


A New Shade of Black

by Vergina-SPVA (VerginaSPVA)



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Horror-ish, M/M, Supernatural - Freeform, sleeping disorder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2014-12-17
Packaged: 2018-02-23 08:43:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 38,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2541443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VerginaSPVA/pseuds/Vergina-SPVA
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new city, a new police station, a new neighbor. Smoker is going to make the best of his new life, but his sleeping problem keeps getting in the way. Is it just a fact of getting accustomed to the new place or is there more to it? Modern AU (with supernatural elements), M rated, Izo/Smoker & Marco/Ace. Written for the Halloween fanfic project on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my story. I wrote this for the One Piece Halloween Fanfiction project on Tumblr, hosted by the lovely Stirlingphoenix. This story will get seven chapters. As I write this note, five of them have been written and those will be uploaded with a couple of hours in between every chapter. After that, there will probably be some more time between the last two chapters, but I'll try to finish it within two weeks.
> 
> Also, PLEASE leave a review, whether you like it or not, to tell me what it was that you did or didn't like (just make sure you're not being rude). Since this is a very uncommen pairing, I could use every feedback I can get ^^.
> 
> Thanks Aerle, for betaing this story even when you don't ship IzSmo XD
> 
> Please enjoy~!

He put down the groceries to fetch his keys from his pocket and open the door of his apartment. When it was open, he picked up his bag again and stepped inside.

It was the third day that he came home after having worked at the police station in this town. He hadn't been too happy when he was told to move to another city to work there, just because they could use him here better than where he came from. But it wasn't the end of the world either and he would survive it. At least the partner he had gotten here wasn't too bad, though she could still learn a thing or two.

Smoker kicked off his shoes and went to the kitchen to put away his groceries. After having lived here for almost a week now, the apartment still didn't completely feel like home. But he guessed that was just something that would come with the time. He just had to get used to this new place.

When everything was in place, he took off his shirt – he wasn't at work anymore after all – and sighed. Even if he just worked here for a few days yet, it had already been a hectic few days. He could see why they had needed him. However, that did mean he was a little tired now and didn't really feel like cooking. But he couldn't justify take-out food when he had just bought groceries for cooking, so he just started to get the things he needed for his diner. When he had everything standing on the counter, he cursed. Of course he had forgotten one of the main ingredients.

Well, it couldn't be helped then. Pizza it was.

He quickly placed the things back to where they belonged, got into his shoes and his favorite jacket – which he left open, it was way too warm to close it – and stepped out of the apartment. Just to bump into a person walking past his door. He looked up at the man. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Are you okay?"

The man – even if Smoker was questioning this for a moment because of the amount of make-up covering the man's face – frowned for a moment, but then smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Smoker smiled politely at him, while pulling the door of his apartment shut.

"You live here?" the man asked a little surprised.

"Yeah," Smoker answered, while giving him a better look. It was a pretty interesting figure. Long black hair that looked very soft too, clothes that Smoker wasn't sure were produced for men, shoes that definitely weren't, and – as noticed before – make-up adorned his face. "I'm new," the police officer said when he noticed he had been silent for a little too long. "Moved in on Saturday."

"Really? I didn't know they'd sold it," the man held out his hand. "I'm Izo, I'm your neighbor. I was out of town for a few days, so that could explain why I haven't seen you before."

Smoker took the hand and shook it. The man's grip was firmer that he'd expected. "I… My name is Smoker, nice to meet you." His stomach chose that exact moment to make a loud grumbling noise. Well, that must leave a great first impression on his neighbor.

Izo chuckled. "Sounds like you're hungry."

Smoker got a cigar from his pocket. "Yeah, I was just going to get myself a pizza," he said as he lit the cigar.

"Ah, well, I won't hold you for any longer then. We'll see each other again," Izo smiled. "Maybe you could come by for drinks sometime soon."

Nodding, Smoker answered, "Yeah, sounds nice."

Izo opened the door next to his. "Well, enjoy your pizza," he said with a short wink – though Smoker might have imagined that.

"Thanks," he said as he left to get his food.

* * *

That night, he didn't sleep well. It wasn't that he lay awake a lot, but in his sleep, he was just very restless. But Smoker had to admit to himself in the morning, he never slept well in new places or when he was on vacation either. So again, it would be a matter of getting used to this place.

Nevertheless, he wasn't very rested when he woke up that morning. But a good cup of coffee or two did a lot to wake him up. It wasn't long before he was at the station, downing his third coffee and ready to get down to business. Which appeared to him in the form of paperwork. Just great.

Another cup of coffee and two cigars later, his partner finally came walking in a little faster than necessary. "Smoker, we've got an arson case! The arsonist has been seen by bystanders, he's driving towards the east of the city!"

"Alright," Smoker jumped up. "Let's go after him."

Tashigi followed him and climbed into the passenger's seat of the car while Smoker started the vehicle and drove away, sirens on. He liked the Chase. The Chase was where cops were made for. And he never let anyone slip. Well, almost never.

"What's he driving and what is his current location?" he asked his partner.

"He's driving a red Honda bike, license plate number FF-69-PH. He's last seen on the Grand Line Street towards the Grey Terminal," Tashigi informed him. Then she grabbed the walkie-talkie and stated that they were on their way, soon already driving up to the Grand Line Street, since it was pretty close to the station.

It didn't take very long for them to spot the scarlet Honda. Its driver cast a look over his shoulder when he heard the sirens, almost crashing into another car, but just being able to avoid it.

"What an idiot!" Tashigi said a little angrily. "It's one thing to set a barn on fire, but it's another thing to bring others in danger because he can't drive properly!"

"Don't worry, we'll get him," Smoker assured her. However, the arsonist sped up some more, and slalomed between cars. And even though the cars made way for them a bit, the police car still couldn't reach the same speed. The distance between them got bigger and bigger, but suddenly the arsonist turned right and shot into a side street.

Smoker immediately shot into a street on his right too, one before the one their prey had gone into. Next street left and they were behind the motorcyclist again, the Chase was back on. Fortunately for the two cops, this street was almost completely empty, so they could accelerate some more.

They had almost reached the man, when he suddenly hit the brakes, forcing Smoker to do the same, if he didn't want to fly right past him. The arsonist had thrown his Honda into the grass and started to run, helmet still on his head. But before the car stood still, Tashigi had already stepped out to follow him and Smoker was right behind her, but being a faster runner, passed her within seconds.

The biker was obviously slowed down by the helmet and he tried to take it off while running, but it didn't seem to cooperate with him. Smoker was only a few meters behind him now and pointed his gun at the man. "Police! Get down on your knees with your hands on your head!"

The man tried to run a little longer, but then he tripped and almost fell. Apparently, that was when he decided to give up. He stopped with his hands above his head. "Alright, alright. I surrender."

"On your knees!" Smoker commanded as he put his hand on the man's shoulder.

The arsonist did as he was told. "Can I take my helmet off though? It's kinda stuffy in here."

"Fine, just know that there's a loaded gun pointed at you and I'm not afraid to use it if you make any suspicious movements," The police officer warned him.

"Yeah yeah, I get it. I'm not going anywhere." The arsonist slowly brought his hands to the black helmet and took it off, making sure not to make any rushed movement that could be interpreted wrongly. Black strands fell down from underneath the protecting cover and a fairly innocent face with freckles looked up at him. "Good day, officer. What can I do for you?"

"Don't play dumb, brat. You're under arrest for arson, speeding, reckless driving in general and probably underage driving too, and so, without a license," Smoker explained, while Tashigi cuffed his hands behind his back.

"How dare you, I'm not underage! I'm twenty one!" the young man protested.

"We'll see about that. You've got your papers on you?" Smoker asked.

The guy smiled cheekily. "Yes, they're on the inside of my jacket. Now, the problem is, my hands are cuffed, _but_ … I wouldn't mind it at all if you slowly opened the zipper and felt me up… to get the papers, of course."

Smoker looked unimpressed at the man. Was he seriously trying to flirt with him? What kind of cop did he think Smoker was? "You can show me them at the station."

Tashigi made the arsonist stand up again and pushed him towards the car, while explaining his rights to him. Once he sat down, the door locked, Smoker asked his partner, "You can drive that thing, right?"

The woman looked at the motorcycle that still lay on the grassy ground. "Yeah, I can."

"Good, will you drive that back then? I'll take our little arsonist to the station." She nodded as answer to his question and Smoker got back into the car.

He was barely driving again, when he noticed his captive leaned forward a bit, placing his head against the small fence that separated them. "So what's your name, officer?"

"My name is Smoker, but you can keep calling me officer," he answered a little grumpy. Or what he thought was a little grumpy, but he was told more than once that he looked grumpy by nature, so it probably came across as very grumpy.

"Oh, you like that, huh, _officer_?" the guy said too close to Smoker's ear for the latter's comfort.

"Get back into your seat and shut it until we've reached the station."

The guy did as he was told and sat back, Smoker could see in his rear-view mirror that he was slightly pouting. "I thought," the arsonist nevertheless tried, "that maybe you and I could work this out together, if you know what I mean." He wiggled his eyebrows to make sure the officer knew what he was talking about.

Smoker rolled his eyes. "Sorry kid, wrong cop."

A deep chuckle escaped the guy's lips. "You tryin' to tell me you're not gay? 'Cause I know a gay man when I see one."

To say this guy was annoying and really trying Smoker's patience would be an understatement. "I'm trying to tell you that I'm a professional."

"Hmpf, boring," the young man mumbled, but then he thought of something. "So… you would fuck me if I weren't your prisoner?"

"I don't fuck kids." Smoker wasn't going to answer the question, but then the opportunity to put the brat in place was too good to pass.

The guy frowned deeply. "I'm not a kid, dammit!" He stared angrily out of the window. "Well, it's not like I'd want to fuck with you anyway. And I have a boyfriend already, so!"

Very mature, yes. "Good for you. I'm sure he would be happy with the things you've said to me." Smoker drove onto the parking lot, while the guy in the back of the car put some more anger into the stare out of the window.

Smoker parked his car and got the kid out of the vehicle when Tashigi parked the red Honda of the man as well. Smoker pushed the arsonist through the doors of the police station and led him immediately to the interrogation room. He searched the guy for weapons first, making sure a colleague was watching so that the man couldn't accuse him of anything else. Smoker didn't find any weapons, just a half empty pack of matches and a smartphone.

When Tashigi sat down in one of the chairs in the room, Smoker took off the cuffs and sat down next to his colleague. "I'm not gonna strip you, so if you'd please give us your papers now."

The guy opened his jacket without any more comments and retrieved some papers, passes and a condom from his inside pocket and threw them all on the table between them. "Oops, that's none of your business," he said as he quickly put the condom back in his pocket.

Smoker pulled the papers towards himself and gave them a look over. They seemed to be in order and the guy hadn't even been lying about his age. "So, mister Portgas, care to tell us what you were doing at that barn?"

"What barn?" the kid, Ace seemed to be his name, answered with an innocent face.

"The barn at Drum Island street 60, where you were spotted by several bystanders," Tashigi told him.

"Oh, that barn. I was just looking at the fire. It was beautiful!" When Ace saw the two cops looking seriously at him, he added. "But I didn't do it!"

Someone had to tell this guy that he was a very bad liar. "That's not what the witnesses said." Smoker sighed. "Look, you can do this the hard way and play ignorant while we both know that you were the one to start the fire, _or_ you're just gonna admit it and tell us exactly how and why you did it. That way, you could be back on the street within an hour."

Ace leaned back in his chair, seeming to think about this offer. "Well, I guess this is going to take a while then. Would you mind if I'd call my partner? To tell him I won't be home for dinner."

Smoker tried to convince him to tell the real story with his eyes for a moment, but then sighed and slid the phone towards its owner. "Fine. Make it quick."

Ace picked it up and dialed a number. A few seconds later someone picked up and the freckled man spoke, "Hey, it's me. I'm calling because the police is keeping me at the station." It was silent for a moment. "They think I set some barn on fire. No! Maybe… Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I won't be home before dinner. I'm out of here before you know it, though."

"I wouldn't count on that," Smoker warned him.

Ace gave him an annoyed look and continued the conversation with his boyfriend. "Yup, so don't worry. 'Kay. Bye, love you too."

* * *

The handling of mister Portgas had taken up the rest of his working day and at the end, he still hadn't confessed. Because of that and because the arson investigation wasn't closed yet, he had to spend the night in one of their cells. He would get another chance tomorrow, because all the evidence seemed to be against him.

It was already getting dark when Smoker got home that day and when he passed his neighbor's window, he saw a faint light burning inside. It was different from the days before, when the apartment next to him had seemed abandoned, but that made sense now. Izo had been out of town.

Smoker subconsciously stopped in front of the window and looked inside. He could see the black haired man he had met the night before, talking with some blond. They seemed to have fun. His neighbor seemed like a very interesting man too, at least his looks were different from most people's. And that gave someone already head start in Smoker's book, because it meant they weren't afraid to be themselves.

Smoker realized he was peeking and quickly walked on to his own door.

He couldn't get out of cooking this evening, so he had already bought the one ingredient he had missed and started to make his dinner. He ate his meal in front of the television. He didn't really mind living on his own, since it gave him a lot of freedom. Still, when he saw others having fun, like Izo and his friend, it did bother him a bit. Not that he was actually looking for someone to spend his evenings with. But if someone happened to come on his path, he wouldn't be against it.

A few hours after dinner, he had fallen asleep on his couch, which wasn't very comfortable for that purpose, he noticed when he woke up in the middle of the night. He opened his eyes and it took him a moment to realize where exactly it was that he had fallen asleep. He saw that it was his living room that was decorated by different weird shaped shadows. And he would swear he saw one shadow move, but then the window caught his eye and he realized he hadn't closed his curtains. No wonder the shadows in his apartment were moving; the tree in front of his flat moved in the wind too.

Smoker was too tired to walk all the way to the window to cover it and instead went for his bedroom. He would rather spend the rest of the night in his bed. Still, when he dozed off, he first ended up in a restless, nightmare-like dreamland, before finally finding the relaxing sleep he needed.

* * *

The next morning again, he couldn't keep his eyes open very well, but thinking of the arsonist in his cell made him a bit excited again. He would get him to confess, he was sure of it. There wasn't really much else the guy could do.

Or that is what Smoker thought until he parked his car in front of the station. As soon as he opened the door from his vehicle, Tashigi came running out of the building. "Smoker, you're not going to believe this!"

He frowned. "I'm not gonna believe what, Tash?"

"Portgas D. Ace, the man we captured yesterday, he's gone missing!"

* * *

~ bonus ~

"… _to find him beside you again."_

_The blond smiled. "Probably." He looked at his brother. "Are you aware that there is a man standing in front of your window, looking at you?"_

_The dark haired man chuckled. "Yeah, that's my new neighbor. Do you think he fancies me?"_

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking to the story! :D Hope you enjoy the second chapter as well ^^

"What do you mean, he's gone missing?" Smoker asked as he followed her inside. "Did he escape?"

Tashigi looked a little troubled. "Well, yes, he's not in his cell anymore, but the thing is… the cameras didn't record any sight of him. And the door was still locked too, so I don't understand how he could have gotten out."

"He must be on _some_ tape, I'm sure you've overlooked something," Smoker commented.

"Maybe, well, we haven't watched all video recordings yet, but…"

"I'm sure we'll find something, Tashigi, people don't just disappear." They immediately walked into the video room and Smoker greeted Hina, the station leader of this town, who was already intensely watching one of the tapes.

"Hina doesn't like this the least bit," she commented. "It's like he just dissolved into thin air."

"Well, that's just not possible, so we'll just have to keep looking for clues." Smoker sat down next to her and started up a video of another area of the police station. "He might have messed up the video evidence."

"How? There has been a guard in the video room all night," Hina commented.

"Well, our prisoner seems to possess ninja-powers, so I wouldn't be surprised if he found a way."

The three of them spent the whole morning watching every video recording there was from in and around the station, but there was no sign of the arson suspect **.** Nor were there parts missing from the tapes. He hadn't taken off on his bike either, as the red Honda was still parked inside the station's garage, where it had been put when it became clear Ace would be spending the night here.

"Could he still be here somewhere?" Smoker asked, his eyes tired of looking at all the videos.

"Very unlikely. We've searched the whole building," Hina answered.

"Well, maybe we should just give up," Tashigi said. "I mean, to be honest, we would have to let him go today anyway. We don't really have much reason to keep him locked up, even if he is guilty. He's not an immediate danger for society, so he's allowed to await the investigation and trial at his own home."

"I know that, dammit!" Smoker slammed his fists on the table. "But no one escapes from me, no one, you hear? So I will find that damn brat!"

"Hina agrees with Tashigi," the pink haired woman said as she placed a hand on Smoker's shoulder. "We should leave him for now. Our main concern is that he was able to break out and that is what we have to find out how. His current whereabouts are of less importance."

"Yeah, but if we find him, he can tell us how he did it."

"I don't think he would tell you that, Smoker," Tashigi brought in, and if Smoker was completely honest with himself, he didn't think so either. He'd probably just deny everything, just like he had done yesterday.

"But we haven't even checked his home."

Hina stood up. "Fine, you can check whether he's home or not, but you are not allowed to take him into custody **.** Are we clear?"

Smoker looked at her, but then turned around and walked away without saying anything. She might be his boss, but that didn't mean he liked being bossed around.

However, Tashigi was able to convince him to let it rest for now, because, she said, they could always go find him when they really needed to and Smoker could better use his time for other stuff that had yet to be done. The pile of work that was still in front of them was one of the main reasons why they had needed him in the first place. Smoker eventually agreed with her, but swore to himself that when the time came, he would be the one to track down the arsonist, capture him again and make sure he would stay behind bars.

* * *

That evening, he was leaning on the fence of the walkway before his apartment, enjoying the sunset and a cigar or two. That was a small down side to his new home; it didn't have a balcony. But the walkway served that purpose kind of well too, at least for days like these, when the weather was nice.

Smoker looked up when he heard a loud, but muffled laughing. It obviously came from behind Izo's door. He hesitated for a moment. He _was_ invited for a drink, after all, so he could just ring the doorbell to see if he could get it now. But after a second thought, his neighbor probably wouldn't appreciate that when he was already having guests.

At least that was what Smoker assumed. Izo had never said he lived there alone, so maybe the other person he heard – and saw the other day – was his partner or something? He didn't need to be a guest. Not that the person he heard now, would necessarily be the same person he saw yesterday…

Smoker turned back to face the sun that stood near the horizon. He was overthinking things and he wasn't even sure why.

A few moments later the door of his neighbor opened. "Oh, get a room, you two!" It was Izo's voice. "Or… just your own apartment, which is two stores down, if I need to remind you."

"Oh come on, Izo, don't be like that!"

Smoker's ears immediately stood to full attention and he spun around to see who had just spoken. Izo just pushed a couple out of his apartment, one of them the blond he had seen yesterday, the other an all too familiar raven head. Smoker's eyes widened. "You?!"

Ace let go of his boyfriend to face the source of the sound he'd just heard. "You?!"

"You two know each other?" Izo commented slightly amused.

Smoker had to keep himself from grabbing the freckled guy, push him against a wall and take him in. But Hina had forbidden him to do that, so he kept his distance. "How did you escape?"

Ace laughed a little nervous and confused. "You're not gonna arrest me?"

"If you stay available for further questions and your trial, then no, I shall have to leave you for now," Smoker said with much difficulty. "How did you escape?"

The freckled man put on his innocent face again, the one Smoker had seen a few times before and the one that was really making him want to strangle the kid. "Escape from where, officer?"

Smoker clenched his teeth. "You left your memory behind in that cell at the police station?"

"What, a police cell?" Ace pulled a face as if he'd never heard something so ridiculous. "I was never in a police cell! Do you know anything about a police cell, Marco?"

The blond looked at his boyfriend with slight annoyance. "I only know that you weren't at home yesterday. I don't follow every movement you make."

"Izo?" Ace tried to get another on his side.

But Izo held up his hands. "Hey, don't get me involved. You clean up your own shit."

The freckled man scowled at him. "Thanks, Izo."

Izo chuckled. "You'll get wrinkles if you keep up that look for too long. Come on, you should be going."

"Yes, we should," Marco said and he put an arm around his boyfriend to get him to go with him. Without another look at both Izo and the man's neighbor, Ace went with the blond.

When the two of them were out of earshot, Izo turned towards Smoker with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry for that. They're my brothers."

That almost sounded like their behavior came from the fact that they were his brothers, Smoker thought. Wait... "Both? They are both your brothers?"

"Yeah." It seemed to take a moment before Izo realized what he was trying to say. "Oh, no, not like that! I mean, we're not _actually_ brothers, we just call each other that, because… we're just _like_ a family."

"Ah…" Smoker just hoped his new neighbor wasn't part of some sort of gang. That would be a shame.

"So… you're a cop?" Izo asked while giving him a good look over, only now seeming to realize how good he looked, if the man's face was anything to go by. Well, it wasn't the first time Smoker was being checked out. Men and women alike gave him looks like that more often than he'd like. But to be honest, the white wife beater that clung to his chest probably attracted some attention to his body as well.

Smoker nodded. "Yeah, I got your brother arrested for arson yesterday. Among other things."

"Officer Smoker, hm? Sounds good," Izo said, flirting just a little less obvious than his younger brother had done the day before. "But yeah, Ace is that kind of guy. Not that you've got that from me," he quickly added.

Smoker couldn't help but chuckle a bit. His neighbor didn't seem to be such a bad guy. "Say, what about I take you up on that drink right now?"

Izo looked at the last rays of sunlight illuminating the sky for just a few more minutes and pursed his lips together. "I would really love to, but… I actually still have to prepare some work for tomorrow. So, what about Saturday? I'm free then."

Being a little disappointed, but glad because of the new proposal, Smoker nodded. "Sure, Saturday's fine."

* * *

The next day, Friday, he could barely keep his eyes open when he and Tashigi strolled through the center of their relatively small city. There were a lot of bicycles being stolen lately, so the two of them had immediately been send out to check if they found anyone behaving suspiciously. Smoker hadn't even had the chance to drink a cup of coffee before he was sent out into the streets. Well, at least he had his cigars.

"You'll never believe who I found living in the same building as me and happened to be friends with my neighbor as well," Smoker started a conversation with his partner.

Tashigi turned her head towards him with a look of interest. "Who?" Just a moment after she'd asked it, she bumped into a street light. That pole looked hard and the bump slightly painful.

"You alright?" Smoker asked her.

She straightened her glasses and blinked for a moment, before walking around the pole as if nothing had happened. "Yeah, I'm fine. So who were you talking about?"

"Portgas. The damn brat walked around there like nothing happened! He even tried to deny that he was ever in a police cell in the first place, can you believe that?" Smoker shook his head in disbelieve of the memory.

"You're kidding? Sometimes I wished we could keep those kind of people locked up," Tashigi answered. "Though we still don't know how he escaped. I'm betting he didn't tell you anything about that?"

Smoker took a deep drag of his cigars. "Of course not. He was never in a cell, so he didn't know what I was talking about when I asked him about it."

"We'll get him," Tashigi assured him. "The investigation will almost certainly point to arson and together with the witnesses, he won't get away with it."

"He'd better not." Smoker yawned, while looking at a new group of bicycles they neared. No one suspicious to be seen around them.

"Had a tough night because of it?" his partner asked.

Smoker shrugged. "Not necessarily because of that. Just haven't been sleeping very well the last few nights. Probably because of the new environment or something."

"Let's hope it'll get better soon then. Because sleeping pills aren't that great either."

"They aren't," Smoker agreed. "But if my nights continue like this, they might seem to become a good idea."

After walking around for a while, passing the same spots three times and not seeing anything unusual, they decided to head back.

* * *

That night, he lay awake again. Smoker didn't understand it. He was tired, but he just wasn't able to drift off to sleep. Thoughts about the arsonist and the bicycle thief, who were both still walking around freely, were occupying his mind all the time. It bothered him a lot that he hadn't been able to really do something about anything, since he'd come to this city. Yeah, paperwork, he had been able to work away some of that.

Smoker sighed frustrated and turned around in his bed. He stared at the door of his room and listened to the silence that should calm him and make him want to sleep. But it seemed too quiet. Too quiet to properly rest. So quiet that it was actually really loud, screaming at him.

Until he suddenly heard a creak. He sat to attention immediately and listened if he heard another sound.

Nothing. He waited ten seconds, twenty, thirty. Nothing. Or _did_ he hear something?

Smoker sighed. It was probably just his tiredness playing with his mind. Still, he got up, just to make a hundred percent sure there wasn't a burglar in his apartment.

He quietly opened the door of his bedroom and carefully started to scan his home. No one, just as he'd thought. However, again, he had left his curtains open and the bright moonlight created all kinds of freaky shadows in his living room. Smoker really wasn't in the mood for a game of shadows and annoyed, he pulled the fabric in front of the window, effectively blocking out most of the light.

In the little light that seeped through the curtains, he found his way to the bathroom. He pulled the string of the lamp to get some proper illumination and – after being blinded for a few seconds – searched for the small box of sleeping pills he should have somewhere. He found them in a small drawer and it appeared they were only two months over their use-by date. Well, that was probably still alright, Smoker decided and he took one with a bit of water. Only tonight, he promised himself.

He went back to bed and after about ten minutes, he finally felt his eyelids become heavy. He was almost asleep, not even aware of whether he had his eyes open or closed, when he noticed a movement in his room. Saw it, so his eyes had probably still been open.

At least they were now. Smoker scanned his room, set on finding the thing he had just seen, even if he couldn't really place what it had been. It really had been more of a movement than an actual physical thing. After looking at every corner of his room and not finding anything, he let his head fall back on his pillow.

He was just tired and imagining things now. Nothing and no one could have come into his apartment anyway, all doors were locked and windows were closed.

Smoker slowly closed his eyes and was fast asleep within a minute.

* * *

The doorbell rang. Smoker had just taken a shower after having worked the morning and part of the afternoon. He had put on his pants, pulled the towel from his head and placed it around his neck, when he opened the door.

Izo looked surprised at him. "Oh, I'm sorry, were you… taking a shower?"

"I was just done, actually," Smoker answered.

The black haired man did nothing to hide the approving look on his face as he scanned the half-naked man in front of him, hair still dripping. "I… uhm… I came to ask you something. I know I've invited you for a drink, but I was wondering if you'd be in for dinner as well."

Smoker couldn't help but smirk a bit, seeing as he made his neighbor – coming across to him as quite confident – stutter a bit. "Sure, sounds great."

Izo smiled. "Good. I'll go work on dinner then. You can come by in about an hour." He seemed to be leaving, but changed his mind at the last moment. "Oh, and you don't have to bother putting on a shirt, if you don't want to. Everyone can wear what they want to wear and be who they want to be in my home." He winked and then he really left.

Smoker didn't doubt that, but still put on a T-shirt before he rang his neighbor's doorbell, an hour later.

As soon as Izo opened the door, his smile faltered a bit. "You really didn't have to do that." He stepped aside to create some space. "But come in nevertheless."

"I know," Smoker answered as he stepped inside. Strong scents reached his nose. "Smells good. Are you a cook?"

Izo chuckled and closed the door. "Not really. It's really just a very easy dish, don't expect too much of it."

Nevertheless, when they sat at the dinner table – set with two candles in the middle, even though it was not nearly dark outside – the food tasted delicious. "So, what _is_ it you do? Since you keep denying that you're a cook."

"I'm an actor. Stage actor, to be precise," Izo answered with a smile.

When Smoker asked him what kind of plays he did, he told him about the many things he had played. He also told him about the thing he was working on at the moment, a heavy romance between a man and a woman, where he played a part that was very unlike himself, which he loved doing. It gave him a bit of challenge.

Smoker really enjoyed Izo's company. It was nice to see how passionate he talked about his job. It gave him an extra sparkle that made him even more beautiful, in Smoker's opinion.

They talked a bit about the costumes he had to wear as well, and somehow ended up talking about Halloween costumes, as Izo asked him how he used to dress up as a kid.

"Well, I wasn't very creative in that," Smoker admitted. "Just went as a ghost, you know, pull a sheet over my head with two holes for my eyes. One time, when I was a little older, I just went as a half slaughtered human."

Izo snorted. "That sound like a nice view to have on your doorstep."

Smirking, Smoker answered. "Isn't that the whole point of Halloween?"

A chuckle escaped his neighbor's lips. "Maybe."

"So what did you use to do for Halloween?" Smoker asked. The food was long gone by then and there was just a glass of whiskey to be emptied.

"I used to love vampires," Izo smiled. "Somehow, the idea of sucking the life out of someone sounded really appealing to me."

Smoker raised his eyebrows. "You must have been really creepy as a kid." He could just imagine Izo doing his best to go completely up in his character. He hadn't become an actor for nothing, after all. And seeing as his pale skin and hair as black as the night worked with him already, he must have made a very believable little vampire.

Izo seemed to be holding back his laughter. "Yeah, or so they say."

The evening went by faster than Smoker had expected and it was around eleven p.m., the sun just below the horizon, when Izo stood up. "I'm sorry, I'm having a great time, but I need to get up early tomorrow."

"On Sunday?" Smoker asked a bit surprised. He was just having a good time at his neighbor's place, so he wasn't really keen on leaving already.

"Yeah, I… need to go to church." Izo started to collect the glasses and stuff, but didn't look at him.

"Really?" Smoker discovered new surprises about this man every minute. "I didn't deem you a religious man."

Izo chuckled. "I'm not. But a friend asked me to go with them."

Smoker got a feeling in his stomach that something wasn't right, but it wasn't really based on anything, so he let it slide for now. He stood up as well. "Alright, I'll go home then. I had a great time too."

Izo looked into his eyes now and Smoker noticed the black haired man was slightly smaller than him, even though his aura made him look pretty tall. Izo smiled and after a moment of silently looking at each other, he spoke, his voice a tiny bit deeper than usual, "I'm glad. I'll see you again then."

"Definitely," Smoker agreed.

After one more moment, Izo stepped aside, so Smoker could walk to the door, he himself following his guest. Smoker opened the door and turned around. "Well, good night then."

His neighbor smiled a little mysteriously. "Yeah, good night."

* * *

~ bonus ~

_He leaned with his back against the closed door and let out a relieved breath. Then he chuckled. "Church?"_

_He walked back towards his living room, shaking his head. "Poor church."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued ~


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not very Halloweeny yet, you say?  
> Maybe you should look better ;P

Twisting and turning, Smoker lay in his bed. It was four in the morning and he had barely gotten any sleep yet. Again.

He cursed loudly. What the fuck was wrong with him? He constantly lay awake, and when he _did_ fall asleep, it was full of nightmares and he woke with a start shortly after it. All in all, he might have gotten three quarters of an hour of sleep, maybe a full hour, but Smoker doubted it. And every time he woke up, he had a feeling as if someone was watching him, but that was probably just a side effect from the nightmares.

He stared angrily at the ceiling. He just wanted to sleep peacefully, dammit! And even if it was very tempting to go to the bathroom and get another sleeping pill, he didn't want to do that. It seemed like his problem only got worse, instead of fade away, as he got used to his new apartment, so Smoker didn't expect it to get better any time soon. Taking a sleeping pill every night… well, that wasn't really his thing. He had always been a bit careful with taking medication, even if it were light pills like these.

But well, not sleeping wasn't an option either. Smoker turned on the light and shielded his eyes for a moment, before he looked around the room, just to make sure there really wasn't someone stalking him and staring at him. He looked at the window too, but no one could see through them, as his curtains blocked the view. Should he check behind them anyway? Smoker thought about it for a moment, but then decided against it. It would only feed his paranoia. He shouldn't be so silly.

Instead, he picked up the book on his nightstand and continued reading where he had left off. It was an entertaining, though not very realistic, detective and it effectively distracted his thoughts from his sleeping problem or any other problem he might have been stressing about.

One time, however, he could have sworn he saw a shadow move from the corner of his eyes, but when he looked around, there was still nothing or no one to be found. He shook his head and read a few more pages, before his eyes fell shut and he could finally get a few hours of sleep.

* * *

"You look terrible," Hina commented as she walked past his desk, that Monday.

Smoker glared at her with tired eyes. "Tell me something I don't know."

She stopped to give him her full attention. "Everything alright? No problems at home, have you? With your partner?"

It was silent for a moment in which Hina seemed to realize something. "You don't have a wife or anything, do you?"

"He doesn't," Tashigi commented to Smoker's annoyance. He could answer for himself perfectly well, after all. Still, she continued to meddle in their conversation. "Are you still having problems with sleeping?"

"Yes," he answered grumpily. "But nothing bad enough that it will keep me from doing my job."

Hina looked at him for a second as if she didn't fully believe him, but then shrugged. "Alright, that's good to hear. Back to work then," she said and walked on towards her own office.

Tashigi left her desk to return a few moments later with two hot cups of coffee and put one down next to Smoker's computer. He forced his lips into a smile. "Thanks."

"So you haven't even slept one night straight?" she asked him, while seating herself on her chair again.

"Nope." He didn't really feel like talking about it, since it frustrated him to no end that he couldn't do anything to change it. Still, he thought about it some more and realized something. "The weird thing is, I do think I slept fairly well the first two, three nights."

"You could have been exhausted from moving all your stuff, those days," Tashigi suggested.

Smoker shrugged. "Maybe."

"Have you talked to a doctor or anyone yet?"

He looked skeptically at her. "A doctor?" He shook his head. "It isn't that bad yet."

"Are you sure?" she looked worried at him. "How much sleep did you get last night?"

Again, he shrugged. "About four hours."

"And the night before?"

"Something like that too." Smoker gave her an annoyed look. "Should we move to the interrogation room or are you done?"

Tashigi moved her gaze towards her computer screen. "I'm sorry, I'm just trying to help."

He took a sip of his coffee and the look on his face softened a bit. "I know. But I'm fine."

* * *

He walked towards his car that was parked on the parking lot in front of his flat. He asked himself if it was still save to drive, since he had had another very short night of sleep and he couldn't always focus very well on what he was doing anymore. But he still needed to get to work. Being tired wasn't nearly a good reason not to go. Besides, Smoker would be bored to death if he had to stay home all day and couldn't sleep anyway.

In a flash, he saw a bit of black move past him and immediately Smoker turned around. "Portgas!" he shouted and the boy who was nearing the flat, slowed down a bit. "You still owe me an explanation."

The raven head turned around and smiled that annoying smile of his. "Guess what, I owe you exactly _nothing_."

Smoker quickly walked towards him and since Ace kept looking at him, the boy could only slowly walk back and soon hit the wall with his back. Smoker crossed the distance that was left between them within seconds and grabbed the guy's arm. "Tell me how you escaped and we might leave some minor details out of our investigation, so your punishment might be a little lighter."

Ace chuckled. "I'm not the least worried about any form of punishment. After all, I didn't do anything."

"The investigation has already proven that it's arson. You were seen by three people. I would change my mind about that if I were you," Smoker said.

"I didn't escape." Ace smiled and suddenly, he stood a few feet left of where the older man had been holding him.

Smoker looked confuse from his hand, that was still in the position of holding an arm, to the guy standing next to him. He hadn't even felt or seen him move. "How did you do that?" He turned towards the arson suspect and now grabbed both his arms.

"Do what, Smoker?" Ace said innocently. And at that moment he slipped out of his grip, as if he just glided through his fingers, as if they were made of nothing more than clouds.

Smoker frowned and got his hands on the boy again, this time holding his shoulders. Again, Ace got out of his hold, as if it was never there to begin with.

Smoker began to panic. What was happening? Why couldn't he hold a little kid like him? How could he escape every time again?

Suddenly, something else worried him too. A smell like something was burning reached his nose and he looked around to see what it was, only to find small flames licking at Ace's skin.

"Watch out, you're on fire!" he tried to warn the boy.

But Ace just smiled at him. "Smoker?"

How could he not be affected by the flames?

" _Smoker!"_

Smoker's eyes snapped open. What was happening? Where was he? Where had Ace gone to?

In the darkness, he finally recognized his own living room. And next to the couch where he lay on, stood a dark figure, he couldn't make out more than a shadow at first.

"Smoker, are you alright?" the shadow asked.

Smoker connected the voice with his vision that slowly got accustomed to the dark. "Izo? Yeah, I'm fi..." That was when all his senses finally kicked in and the burning smell was all too clear to him. "Shit!" He sprang up and ran to the kitchen. He had been making himself a late night snack and just lay down for a second. He must had fallen asleep and his food had been left alone all that time.

When he'd reached the kitchen, it was clear that he hadn't been asleep for only five minutes. There was a thick cloud of smoke blurring his already barely present vision. Smoker searched for the light above the counter. Fortunately for him, the light needed some time to warm up, so he wasn't blinded by it.

He turned down the stove immediately and looked at the contains of the pan. A few black remains were left of his late-night snack. He was lucky it hadn't burst into flames.

"Were you cooking something?" Izo asked him from the shadows at the kitchen door. "I smelled something wrong, so I decided to take a look to see if everything was okay."

"Yeah, I was cooking," Smoker answered, still a little confused. "But I guess I fell asleep."

Izo chuckled. "Your cooking style reminds me of Ace's."

The white haired man frowned. He didn't like to be compared to that pyromaniac kid. "It was an incident." He put the pan into the sink, when he realized something else was off. He turned to face his neighbor. "How did you get in?"

Izo smiled mysteriously, even if the man was barely visible from where the white haired man was standing. "I know a few tricks."

Smoker raised his eyebrows. "That's probably not the best thing to tell a cop."

Even though Izo's face was half hidden in the darkness of his apartment, Smoker could see the slightly challenging look in his eyes. "I'll take my chances with that."

Smoker couldn't help it when the corner of his mouth curled up. "As long as you only break in to help people…"

"You never know," his neighbor said teasingly.

Smoker felt his heart speed up a little. The tone of Izo's voice, implying a mysterious and possibly bad side of him, did things to his body that it really shouldn't.

He took a few steps towards the man in the door opening, noticing how his breathing had become heavier. "I can try to find out."

Izo smirked. "Oh, are you going to interrogate me, officer Smoker?"

"If I didn't know any better, I would say you'd like that," Smoker tried to keep this weird feeling in his body under control. Well, it wasn't that weird, in fact, he was well aware of what it meant, but he was not sure he wanted these feelings in connection to his neighbor.

"It's a good thing you know better, then," Izo said and Smoker would swear he saw him wink. "Well, I should leave you, now I know that you're okay. You seemed to be in need of some sleep." Izo stepped out of the little light that reached him, almost merging completely with the darkness.

"Yeah." Even though Smoker was a little sad Izo had broken the spell between them, he was still tired as fuck. "You're right about that." He followed his neighbor to the door, admiring him for the fact that he didn't bump into anything while he walked through a pinch black apartment that he had never been in, before.

They wished each other good night and Smoker locked the door as soon as he'd closed it again. He didn't want to give bad-willing sneak-ins a chance.

He filled the sink with hot water, so that the remains of food would be easier removed in the morning. He was not gonna clean that anymore, tonight.

After the sink was filled with water, he put out the light and went to bed. Once the sheets covered him, he gave himself some time to think about it all. Or more specific, about his neighbor. Did he really like Izo? Well, there had obviously been some sort of tension between them and Smoker couldn't deny that he found him at least a little attractive…

He frowned. Why was he even thinking about it? Did it matter? He wasn't going swoon all over his neighbor if he decided he liked him, and if he mistook this attraction for something that it wasn't… well, either way, it didn't matter. He would see how things would turn out. His main focus would still be on his job, at least the coming weeks.

* * *

"Smoker, Tashigi, will you come to Hina's office for a moment?" the station chief called out from the door of said office, the next day.

The two partners looked at each other, both not knowing what this was about, but also not hesitating to comply. They stepped into Hina's office a few seconds later, the pink haired woman already sitting behind her desk again. Tashigi closed the door behind them, getting her sleeve caught between it at first, but succeeding a second time.

"What's the matter?" Smoker asked with a bad feeling in his stomach. It was still his second week here, after all. Maybe they weren't satisfied with the work he had delivered? No, he couldn't imagine that.

"Hina got a phone call from the front desk, just now," their boss began to speak. "Our most important witness in the arson case wants to withdraw."

"What?! Why?" Tashigi asked disbelieving.

"He told Coby, the receptionist, that he didn't want to be the reason that some innocent guy got locked away. He said he was drunk that afternoon and was sure he had mistaken some random bystander as a 'suspicious looking guy'. Since he was drunk, he said, everyone looked a bit suspicious."

"You've got to be kidding me," Smoker said, annoyance and frustration evident in his voice. "Was that the one who had seen his face?" Only one of the three witnesses could describe the arsonist's face, the others had seen him from a greater distance.

Hina nodded. "Hina's afraid so. Coby tried to convince him that the description he gave and the person he had identified matched with the one the other witnesses had seen, but he was still sure he had been mistaken." She sighed. "We can't force the man, but even so, we still have the other two witnesses, which must be enough to convince the judge, together with the results of the arson investigation."

"It'd better be enough," Smoker said. "I'll personally make either Portgas confess or get that witness back, if it's _not_ enough."

"Now now, no need to scare the man even more. Coby said he seemed stressed out and scared of every unusual sound or movement around him, but when Coby asked the man, he said he just hadn't been sleeping very well lately."

Sounds familiar, Smoker commented in the privacy of his mind. Maybe this town caused insomnia if you stayed here too long. "Do you think Portgas is threatening him?"

"How could he know who the witness is, though?" Tashigi brought up.

"Well, the witness had seen Portgas' face, so maybe Portgas had seen his face as well," Smoker said. "It isn't that hard to find out where someone lives." This town wasn't that big, after all.

Hina nodded. "Could be. But he didn't say anything that could point towards that."

"We could talk to him," Tashigi opted.

Hina slowly nodded again. "That's fine, as long as you don't scare him any more. We're here to protect the people after all."

"Don't worry, we won't." Tashigi almost saluted when she said that.

The two of them were dismissed after that and immediately went to the witness' home. After ringing the bell two times, the door was finally opened just enough to let the person inside peek through it to see who was standing on his porch.

"Mister Pagaya?" Tashigi asked careful and with her sweetest voice. They had agreed to let her do the talking, at least at first, since Smoker scared people too easily with the vibe he gave off – or so his partner said. Smoker wasn't too happy with that, but agreed nonetheless. He guessed at least she wasn't even _able_ to scare anyone. "We would like to speak with you just a little more."

"Oh, no, I've withdrawn as a witness, I don't have anything to tell you that could possibly help you," the man said softly, still not showing much more than ten inches of his home.

"Still, would it be okay if we talked to you a little more, inside?" Tashigi pressed. "I promise nothing will happen to you if you just talk with us. We're here to protect you after all," she quoted Hina.

The man, who was half hidden behind his own beard, looked from the one police officer to the other and then cast a look down the street, before he opened the door some more to let them in. "Well, if you really have to…" he stepped aside, but closed the door immediately behind them.

"Would you like a cup of coffee or tea?" Pagaya offered.

"That's very kind of you, but that won't be necessary," Tashigi replied even before Smoker could accept the extra cup of coffee. Well, he would just let it pass, this time.

They sat down at the dinner table and Tashigi smiled friendly at Pagaya. "Could you tell us precisely why you have withdrawn as a witness?"

"I already explained that to the pink haired officer," the man said, seemingly tired of the prospect of explaining everything another time.

Smoker rubbed his eyes to get rid of his own tiredness before he spoke. "Well, yes, you said you were drunk at the time?" Really, this man didn't seem like the type to get drunk in the middle of the day, but then again, looks could be deceiving.

"Yes, yes, I'm ashamed to admit so, but I was." The man looked down to study the table.

"But, mister Pagaya, I'm pretty sure you still have seen the right guy doing the wrong thing," Tashigi said. "You confirmed that the person we caught, was indeed the one you had seen. Besides, your description matches the one of the other witnesses. They have only seen someone walking away from the fire to a motorcycle, but they were almost sure it was the one we captured as well."

"Then why isn't he still locked up?" the man asked immediately.

Smoker and Tashigi exchanged a look. It was obvious something was wrong here. First, the man knew Portgas wasn't in his cell anymore and second, he stopped denying that he _had_ seen the right man. Smoker cleared his throat. "We can't keep people at the station for longer than six hours, unless they confess or form an immediate danger for society. But you are obviously lying to us, mister Pagaya. What is the real reason you withdrew? Has the suspect come to you to threaten you?" Smoker asked, not really in the mood to waste too much time. "Or your daughter, perhaps?"

The man looked around anxiously. "Does he know I have a daughter?"

Tashigi placed her hand reassuring on top of his. "Not as far as we know." She cast a slightly annoyed look at Smoker.

The white haired man ignored her and continued, "Mister Pagaya, if he's threatening you, you have to tell us, or we won't be able to do anything about it."

The older man shook his head. "You can't do anything about it… he's not threatening me."

"Sir, I might not be psychologist, but I'm not blind either. And it wouldn't be the first time I come across a case of this sort." Why couldn't the guy just tell them? Smoker was getting a little tired of this game.

"Smoker!" Tashigi said, almost angrily.

"I'm sorry…" Pagaya said quietly. "I just want a night of sleep again. I stick to my story. I was drunk and I didn't see anything and I just want to sleep again."

"Is it really bothering you _that_ much that you can't sleep because of it?" the woman asked sympathizing.

"Yes! I don't get _any_ sleep. He's haunting me every night." Pagaya sounded quite desperate and even Smoker began to believe they wouldn't be getting him back as a witness.

"But if you won't testify against him, he might get away with it," Tashigi tried one last time. "So being a witness might give you some peace of mind."

"No," the man answered. "I didn't see anything of importance. Please leave."

Smoker sighed, but stood up, followed by his partner. "Alright. Just remember you can always call us, may you change your mind."

* * *

~ bonus ~

"… _so I don't think he'll be a problem anymore. Now, I'll only have to find out if they've got any more…" The last words didn't reach the older man's active thoughts, as they were currently somewhere else._

_Until the freckled man snapped his fingers in front of his face. "Hello, someone home?" he asked annoyed._

" _I'm sorry," his brother said, smiling apologetic. "I was somewhere else with my mind for a moment. What were you saying?"_

_The younger man grinned and gave him an all-knowing look. "So… who is it?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Be Continued~


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright I still needed to edit this chapter, so that's why it's a bit on the late side. Anyway, I'm really happy with the nice comments! :D So thank you very much!
> 
> Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter as well~!

It was Thursday when he was sitting in a room with four other people, barely able to keep his eyes open. Hina had forced him to take a day off to see a specialist in sleeping disorders. So here he was, sitting in the waiting room, waiting to be called. Well, at least the people around him should have a similar kind of problem, so they would have to forgive him for not looking very awake.

It was a few minutes later when his name was finally called and he was taken to a small office where he had to explain his problem. It had only gotten worse the past few nights and Smoker was sure that three hours of sleep in an average night were not enough to live a normal life. It had become harder to focus and he had noticed that he had become a little less nice to people who annoyed him even the slightest bit – Tashigi didn't have to tell him that, though she still did. Beside that, he also became more and more paranoid at night and every shadow worried him at some times. And he didn't even mention the nightmares he had when he did sleep. Mostly they were about him not being able to catch or hold anything or anyone. Which, to be honest, was one of his biggest fears.

After he'd explained his problem, the woman who was trying to help him, told him that he should make an outline of his sleep schedule, writing down exactly how late he went to bed, how late he got up and every time he lay awake in between that. She also advised him to keep a regular rhythm, not lying in bed for more than eight hours a night, even if that meant the time he actually slept was reduced even more. Eventually, his body would get used to it and take over that rhythm, she said.

Even though she also advised him to keep himself busy during the day, it was only two in the afternoon when he got home and he was deadly tired. Deciding to begin with the doctor's instructions that _night_ , he lay down in his bed, curtains closed and set on getting some extra sleep.

* * *

When he opened his eyes again, he was confused for a bit. He had actually slept. After casting a look at his clock, he was even more surprised. He had slept for four hours straight! He couldn't remember any unpleasant dreams either, or _any_ dreams for that matter.

Even though he knew that wasn't nearly enough sleep to make up for all the hours he had lost the past week and a half, he still felt a lot more energetic again. In contrast to this morning, he felt like he could handle the whole world, if it were to be in need of him.

He refreshed himself and pulled on a pair of pants, purposely leaving off a shirt, before walking out of his door, turning towards his neighbor's and ringing the doorbell. He leaned with his arm against the doorpost when Izo opened the door. The black haired man seemed surprised to see him, or at least to see him without a shirt, but not unpleasantly so.

"Hey," Smoker greeted him. "Do you want to come over for dinner?"

Izo gave him a long look over and barely visibly licked his lips. "Depends…" He locked eyes with his neighbor. "Have your skills improved since last time?"

Smoker chuckled. "I might not be a Michelin chef, but I think I can cook pretty decent."

A smirk formed itself on Izo's lips. "Then I would love a taste of your… cuisine."

"Alright, I'll start on it then," Smoker answered. He kept standing there for a second longer than necessary, but then turned towards his own apartment. "I'll leave the door open for a bit, so you don't have to use those 'tricks' of yours again. You can come in whenever you're ready."

"I will," Izo answered and Smoker walked away contently.

He was only working on dinner for only about five minutes when Izo stepped into the kitchen. "So, what are you making me?"

Smoker looked around to see that Izo had changed his clothes and that the pants he wore were dangerously tight. He quickly turned back to what he was working on. "Oh, you'll _love_ my balls."

Izo snorted. "A little straight forward, aren't we?"

"My meatballs." Smoker closed his eyes, embarrassed by his own choice of words. "Swedish meatballs. I'm making them."

A deep chuckle escaped Izo's lips. "I'm sure I'll love your balls."

"You like garlic?" Smoker asked. "Or will that keep your vampire self away?" he joked.

"Garlic is fine," Izo's voice suddenly sounded way closer. "I've left my vampire years behind me."

Smoker could feel Izo's breath on his neck and couldn't keep the image of his neighbor, letting his teeth sink into his flesh, out of his mind. He wondered why that seemed so appealing to him. He blinked a few times to get rid of the image and then looked over his shoulder to see exactly how close Izo was standing behind him. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Sure." The black haired man smiled. "Some wine would be nice."

Smoker got the bottle of Chardonnay out of his fridge and poured his guest a glass plus one for himself as well, even though he wasn't that big a fan of wine. "So what have you been up to the past few days?" he asked the other while resuming his cooking.

"Oh, not much special, mostly rehearsing for the new production, of which the first night is next Wednesday," Izo answered while leaning against the fridge and watching his neighbor do his thing.

"Wednesday? That's pretty soon already," was Smoker's reaction. "Where is the show? In this town, or…"

"No, in the Gold and Silvers Plaza in Logue Town," the actor answered. Logue Town was the nearest city one could describe as 'big' and was about twenty miles away from where they lived. "But we're almost ready for it already, so I'm sure everything will go according to plan."

"Good to hear." Smoker went through his working schedule inside his head. "So which days do you play then?"

"Every evening from Wednesday to Friday and the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday, for the first three weeks at least. After that, it depends on how popular the show is." Izo smirked. "Are you planning to come and watch me?"

Smoker shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe, if I've got some free time." Next Friday was his day off, so that was a possibility. "I'm not a very big theater fan though."

"That's okay. You don't have to," Izo smiled. "But how's it going at your job? Did you catch Ace already?"

Smoker grunted. "Let's not talk about that brat. You know perfectly well that we didn't catch him. Not that we tried to. He's allowed to await his trial at home, unfortunately."

Izo chuckled. "He's not such a bad guy, you know."

Smoker looked at him for a few moments. "Say, do you know anything I need to know? Do you know if he's threatening one of the witnesses, for example?"

Izo stayed silent for a moment, but then shook his head. "No, nothing." As Smoker kept looking at him, he turned his gaze away. "Okay maybe I know something, but I'm not gonna meddle in this. I'm not choosing his side, but I'm not choosing your side in this either. Just leave me out of this."

"He's defying the law, how can you just accept that?" Smoker asked, shaking his head.

"It's not like I approve of it. I told you, I'm not choosing a side." Izo did a step towards him, smiling a little mischievous. "Besides…" he continued with a much deeper voice, "it's not like I'm such a saint."

Smoker cursed his body for reacting to that sentence in the way it did, but tried to ignore it and raised an eyebrow. "Do I want to know?"

"I don't know… do you?" Izo said sensually.

Fuck, this way they wouldn't make it to dinner, so something had to change. He cleared his throat. "Maybe you could set the table? It won't take too long before everything is done." He wasn't really one to make his guests work, but it wasn't the time yet to build up such a tension between them, so he had to kill it while it was still possible. He'd see about that again _after_ dinner.

Izo chuckled. "Sure."

Smoker pointed him towards everything he needed to set the table, except for the plates, since he would be taking them to the living room himself when the food was done, and Izo went to work. It was when Smoker was almost finished with dinner that he noticed Izo still hadn't returned to the kitchen, and he wondered if he had blown everything and his neighbor had fled his apartment. He would have been able to set the table three times already, after all. Smoker finished his cooking anyway and made two plates ready to serve.

When he entered the living room, he was pleasantly surprised. The table was perfectly set, even with two burning candles on it and in the background one of his CDs was playing. Izo just sat down on one of the chairs at the table and smiled at him. "I hope you don't mind me rummaging through your stuff a bit, but I needed to find some candles and music."

It seemed Smoker's neighbor was quite the romantic. "That's fine. I'm slowly getting used to your burglar tendencies."

"Really now?" Izo asked amused.

"Not that I'm encouraging you to expand them," Smoker warned him. He put the plates down on the table and sat down himself. "I hope you enjoy your meal."

The actor smiled and Smoker watched how he cut one of the meatballs in two and put one part into his mouth. Izo closed his eyes as he slowly chewed and swallowed it. A soft moan escaped his lips and when he opened his eyes again, he looked straight into Smoker's. "Your balls are delicious," he said teasingly.

Smoker was not sure how he should respond to that and eventually just went with an "I'm glad".

Dinner proceeded pretty well, until Smoker noticed that his neighbor looked a bit as if something was annoying him. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

The look immediately disappeared from Izo's face. "Oh no, nothing, I was just having a thought that wasn't really appropriate and I needed to remind myself of that." He smiled innocently. "Say, do you always eat dinner without a shirt on?"

Smoker looked down his chest and only now remembered that he had forgotten to clothe his upper body before starting on dinner. "No, usually not. Does it bother you? 'cause I can just –"

"No, it doesn't bother me," Izo interrupted him. "Distracting me maybe a little, but not bothering me."

Smoker raised an eyebrow while looking how Izo took another bite of his food, showing a little more tongue than necessary. The white haired man's eyes were glued to that mouth, those slightly colored lips, the bit of tongue…

"But you seem to be a bit distracted yourself as well," Izo teased after he had swallowed his food.

Smoker tore his gaze away from his neighbor and shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about." He focused on his food again, and after a short chuckle, indicating that Izo thought differently, dinner continued relatively easy.

After their food was long gone, Smoker had poured them both another glass of wine – it wasn't _that_ bad after all – and it was only when there fell a short silence that he noticed the music had stopped.

"Oh," Izo said as he slowly leaned forward. He brought his hand close to Smoker's face and let a finger trail from his chin, up to Smoker's bottom lip. "You've got a bit of _lingonsylt_ left here." As he retreated his finger, Smoker saw indeed a bit of the red sauce on it. Izo brought it to his own mouth and slowly let his tongue slide along his finger and finally wrapped his lips around it, making sure every trail of the sauce was gone. Of course, he never broke eye contact with his host as he did this.

Smoker watched him, mesmerized, his breath becoming slower and deeper and his mouth hanging slightly open. Fuck, well, he didn't have a reason to stop this anymore right? They didn't have to focus on dinner or anything anymore…

Smoker tried to get his breathing normal again and stop his heart from beating so loudly, but it didn't work. He tried to say something, but couldn't remember the words. It was almost like Izo had put a spell on him. He was just unable to look away.

"That was delicious," the dark haired man said in a deep voice.

"Do you wanna taste something else that's delicious?" Smoker had said it before he realized it. His heart started to beat even faster as he realized what he had said, but still his body slowly leaned forward.

Izo seemed to be drawn towards him as well and answered, "I would love to."

Smoker could feel the other's breath on his skin already, and it only took a little more courage to actually cross the last bit of distance between them. Their lips met, first carefully, getting used to the other's touch, but then more confident. Smoker placed his hand behind the other's head to deepen the kiss some more, opening his mouth as he felt Izo's tongue against his lips. He only heard a faint thud and didn't pay much attention to it, too absorbed by the kiss, but was abruptly awoken from his trance when Izo let go of him with a slight squeak.

The police officer looked at his neighbor a little confused. Wasn't this what he wanted too? "What's the matter?"

Izo closed his eyes, obviously a bit embarrassed by the sound he had just made. "The wine. We knocked the glass over and it's dripping on my leg." He began to laugh softly. "What a timing."

Smoker chuckled relieved. "I'm sorry. I shall get you a towel to clean up." Smoker stood up, took the dishes back to the kitchen and soon returned with two towels, one so Izo could dry off his pants a bit, and one to clean up the table. "Fortunately, it was white wine, not red," he commented.

"Yeah, because you would be paying for the cleaner's costs if it was," Izo joked while removing the wine stain as well as possible.

After everything was as clean as it got for now, Smoker refilled Izo's glass – the one he had knocked over – and they moved towards the couch. They talked some more and there were a few awkward touches in between, both not exactly sure where the two of them were standing. However, when Smoker opened another bottle, things slowly got a little less awkward.

Izo's hand was caressing Smoker's knee, going up so slowly that the white haired man barely noticed it at first. "Izo, can I ask you a personal question?"

The raven head chuckled. "Then what were all the other questions, if not personal?"

"Yeah, you've got a point there. So… why are you looking the way you look?" Smoker asked, sounding a little blunter than he had intended.

Izo raised an eyebrow, but then lifted his free hand to eyelevel and looked at it intensely. He shrugged. "Because that is how the man and woman who created me… created me?"

"No, I mean, with the make-up and the high heeled shoes and all," Smoker explained, noticing that Izo's hand on his leg stopped moving for a moment.

"I just care for my appearance. It's a shame that there is this clear separation of 'male' and 'female' everywhere in society. Ninety percent of the clothes worth looking at are made 'for women', and you wouldn't want to know how often I'm told 'I'm sorry, sir, but these are female cloths'," he said with a higher voice. Then he snorted. "What a bullshit. I can wear whatever I want. And make-up isn't that unusual when you have a stage-acting background."

Smoker looked at the man as he spoke about the gender connected expectations society had and how he hated them. The police officer really admired him for opposing those expectations, because there were not many people who dared that. "You do have a point about the clothing and everything," Smoker said. "And they look very good on you, too."

"Why, thank you," Izo smirked. "I like the way you're dressed as well."

Smoker looked down at his still bare chest and chuckled. "I'm glad." He noticed Izo's hand had moved up his leg again and his neighbor was slightly leaning in. Smoker's eyes rested a little longer on those slightly red lips, which looked very tempting.

"That's their natural color, you know," Izo said softly, still coming closer. "The lipstick has faded away a long time ago."

That gave Smoker the final push to place his own lips on them. The kiss soon deepened and Izo pushed him down so his upper body was lying on the couch. The taste of his neighbor's tongue was not comparable with _anything_ , just as the things he could _do_ with that tongue. God, Smoker had never even dreamed someone could be such a good kisser.

The police officer let his hands wander down Izo's back, soon reaching his perfect butt. He squeezed it softly and gained a moan from his neighbor, which send a warmth through Smoker's whole body, but specifically to his groin.

Smoker let his hands slip underneath the shirt Izo was wearing, feeling every inch of skin underneath his fingers. This seemed to encourage Izo to kiss him even more lustful.

Until Smoker tried to take off his neighbor's shirt. Izo suddenly let go of him and sat up. "No. We're not going there yet."

Smoker looked up a little confused by the loss of contact. "Why not?"

Izo stood up, casting a look at the clock and then through the window, at the already darkening sky. "Why not? It's not very classy to have sex on the first date, don't you agree?"

Smoker looked up at him, even more confused. "I thought you didn't care for the standards society set? Besides, it's not really the first date."

"No, but I have my own standards." The dark haired man cast another nervous look outside. "And some dignity. Besides, it's the first time we kissed, so that counts as the first date."

Smoker sat up, trying to get rid of his arousal, but not really succeeding yet. Still he smiled. "Well, aren't you a good boy," he teased. "You're right though, I guess. It was a bit fast."

Izo chuckled. "Oh, no, that's where you're wrong; I'm a very bad boy." He winked. "But that's not something you're about to find out tonight."

* * *

After some disappointment that that seemed to be the end of their 'date', Smoker had let Izo go to his own apartment. When he gave it a second thought, it was actually a good thing too that his neighbor didn't stay for the night. At least he could work on his sleeping pattern now. Besides, it had been more a heat-of-the-moment action of him to want to rip off the other's clothes. He was glad Izo had broken it off, because it would have looked as if sex was the only thing he was interested in, which was absolutely not true. Though Izo had a beauty few men possessed, it was not only the outside that attracted Smoker.

He sighed as he stared at the ceiling above his bed. The only problem now though, was that he was pretty aroused. Which didn't help when you already had problems with falling asleep. Still, he tried to ignore it and think of other things that weren't Izo. He remembered the story Tashigi had told him the other day, about meeting a man who shared her passion for swords. He wondered how interested she actually was in him.

Thinking of something that didn't really bother him, slowly lulled him to sleep after all, and he cast a last look at his clock before his eyes fell shut.

It felt like he had only slept a few seconds when he woke up again, seemingly by his own moan. After a moment of confusion, thinking whether that sound had really come from his own mouth, he remembered to check the clock again – for the notes he had to make. 23:34, so it really had been only a few minutes of sleep.

He stared down his body. How the hell did he get more aroused in those minutes? He hadn't even had the time to dream anything that could possibly turn him on! Still, he had a faint memory of someone touching him, so maybe he did have some sort of tiny dream?

Suddenly, he saw a shadow move beside his bed. And this time he was very sure he had seen something. His heart skipped a beat. Oh God, there was someone in his room. Wait… had that person been touching him?!

Smoker immediately stood next to his bed, flicking on as much light as possible. He looked around the room, ready to confront the person who dared to break into his bedroom. But he found no one. Nothing. He checked the corner behind his closet and the space behind his chair, but no person or animal or whatever was hiding there. He even looked underneath his bed, even though no normal person could even _fit_ underneath there.

He stared at the covered windows. There was only one place left where they could hide and that was behind the curtains. Even if the person would have had to walk over his bed to reach it. Smoker took a deep breath and quietly walked over to the window. He counted to three in his head and ripped the curtains open.

His heart stopped for a moment. He stared at the huge mass of black before him that was nothing more than the night outside. There was no one behind his curtains.

Inspecting the whole room again, this time also checking the _insides_ of his closet, he came to the conclusion that there was nobody inside his bedroom. And still… he was pretty sure he had seen someone move. Smoker turned off the big light, leaving only the lamp on his nightstand to illuminate the room, and got into bed again. He noticed his heart was beating fast and loudly and he had to admit to himself that he might become a little scared – and he didn't get scared easily. Something was not right here. There was something going on which he couldn't grasp, couldn't explain, and that frightened him a bit.

Though, there had to be _some_ explanation, right? He looked outside the window again. On this side of the building were no street lanterns and it was a cloudy night, so no stars or moon to lighten up the sky and cause any weird shadows in his room. Besides, the curtains had been closed, blocking every light that might have tried to come through his window.

Smoker shook his head. What was he even scared of? People couldn't just disappear. However, somewhere in the back of his mind, Portgas D. Ace tried to get his attention. He had seemed to have disappeared from his cell after all. He couldn't be behind this either, could he?

Smoker let his eyes wander through the room again. Of course not, he reprimanded himself. At least not directly. His mind was probably just playing tricks with him. The idea of still not knowing how the bastard escaped, together with being sleep deprived, made him see things that weren't there. That must be it.

With a certain peace of mind, though not completely convinced, he turned off the light beside his bed and tried to sleep again.

That night, he made a new record of exactly two and a half hour of sleep before his alarm went off.

* * *

~ bonus ~

 _The first rays of sunlight slowly started to warm up the room. "I just can't help it! I don't want to, I mean, I like him, but… it just happens. You know, I'm drawn to him every time again. Well, probably_ because _I like him, but…" He looked desperately at the man before him._

_The blond gave him his usual bored look. "That sounds like a problem."_

_The dark haired man rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks for your help."_

" _I just don't get what you see in him in the first place!" A third voice came from the kitchen. "He's pretty much an asshole."_

_The older two ignored the voice and the blond looked thoughtful. "You could come over to us next time, it would be like a slumber party." He smiled. "Or the three of us could even go out together, to make sure you don't wander off."_

" _I can't," The freckled man came down from the kitchen, a slice of pizza in his hand. "I've got some business to do…"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Be Continued ~


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy with all the reviews I get! :D you really make my day!
> 
> This is not the last chapter (there will be 2 more), but I haven't even started on the next chapter yet, so you'll have to wait a bit longer :( I'm sorry (university is asking a lot of my time this week).
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

That Monday morning, he walked towards his car, suddenly remembering the dream he'd had about a week before, the one with Portgas turning into fire. He stopped in his tracks, and gazed at his car for a moment, before looking at his watch. He _was_ a little early to go to work.

Turning around, he walked back to his flat. A few days ago, he had checked Ace's exact address, well, the number of his apartment, so now he stood in front of the right door within no time. He just had to pay him a little visit, to make sure he hadn't run away yet.

Smoker had to wait a little while after ringing the bell, but then the door was opened and the blond he had seen before at Izo's place, greeted him, only half dressed and looking slightly annoyed.

"Oh, it's you, the police officer," Marco acknowledged him. "What do you want?"

Smoker was a bit distracted by the gigantic tattoo on the man's chest, but then he recovered himself. "I'm here to speak to Portgas," he answered, realizing a little too late that the two of them could be married and both carry the name Portgas.

However, this seemed not the case, or at least Marco knew whom he meant, as the blond turned around. "Ace, he wants to speak to you!"

"Who?" Portgas' voice came out of the depths of the apartment. When he entered the hallway, also bare chested – Smoker wondered if he'd interrupted something – a scowl set on his freckled face. "What do you want now?"

Marco left the two of them alone and Smoker glared at the raven head. "I just wanted to check if you got the letter about your trial."

"Yeah, it's in two weeks," Ace confirmed. "Are you going to be there as well?"

"Of course." Smoker wasn't going to miss the moment that smug smile fell off the kid's face.

Ace chuckled. "Oh man, that's gonna be so embarrassing… for you."

Smoker raised an eyebrow. "You still think you're gonna win this thing?"

"Yeah, I do," Ace smiled. "Did you know they gave my bike back? Some guys at the police are really nice and thoughtful!"

Smoker tried not to show his annoyance too much, but knew he was probably failing. "Yeah, I heard. Enjoy it while you still can." And with that, he wanted to walk away, not ready to get his day ruined so early in the morning.

But suddenly the freckled man grabbed his arm. "Smoker," he started, giving him a piercing look. "One more thing. If you hurt Izo, you're a dead man." Ace wore the most serious look Smoker had ever seen on his face. "Because if _he_ doesn't kill you, _I_ will."

Smoker looked unimpressed at him. "A kid like you shouldn't try to take the role of overly protective older brother. It doesn't suit you." He pulled his arm free from the boy's grip and walked away. Smoker might like Izo, but he was nowhere near to getting along with his relatives.

* * *

When he arrived at the station, about fifteen minutes later, they were immediately put on a new case. A short while before, someone had called about their neighbors. According to the woman, there had been a lot of shouting and she heard something crash against the wall. It also hadn't been the first time something of the sort had happened, so Smoker and Tashigi went over to the address they had been given.

"Still not sleeping well?" Tashigi asked on the way there. "If the circles under your eyes are anything to go by."

"Not really," Smoker answered a little annoyed. Did they always have to speak about his sleeping problem? He should have never told her, probably. "Though one night I almost got five hours of sleep, so that was a very good night," he said slightly sarcastic, though it really was one of his best nights, since he started having problems. But that had been a few nights ago already, so Smoker didn't see much prove that the doctor's advice worked yet. Maybe he should just give it some more time.

He saw Tashigi – who was driving this time – raise her eyebrows lightly. "Five hours is a good night? I don't think I've ever heard of someone with such an extreme form of insomnia.

"It's not _that_ extreme." He yawned. "Anyway, I'm sure the doctor's advice will work after a week or so. If not, I've got a new appointment in two weeks."

"I sincerely hope it does, for your sake." She parked the car. "We're here."

They walked to the house and after a short wait, a girl around the age of thirteen opened the door. Her eyes were slightly red, as if she had been crying. She seemed a bit scared when she saw their uniforms.

"Hello there," Smoker began. "My name is Smoker and this is my colleague Tashigi. We're from the police, and we just came by to see if everything's okay here."

The girl nodded. "Yeah, everything is fine."

"Could we maybe come in for a moment?" Tashigi asked. "Are your parents at home?"

She looked with big eyes from the one to the other, but didn't dare to oppose them. "My father is home," she said quietly, while opening the door a bit more for them.

Tashigi stayed with the girl in the hallway for a bit, asking if she was really sure nothing was wrong, while Smoker walked on to the living room. Once inside, he saw a boy, probably nine or ten years old, sitting on the couch with headphones on his head, watching TV. Smoker slowly walked over to him, so that he wouldn't scare him, but before he could reach the boy, the father of the house came from the kitchen. "Who are you? What are you doing in my home?" he asked defensively.

"Easy sir, my name is Smoker, police." He flashed his badge. "We're here to ask you a few questions."

At that moment, Tashigi and the girl entered the living room as well, and her father immediately began to yell at his daughter. "See what you've done?! Now the police is here! Was that what you wanted?!"

The girl spontaneously burst into tears. "No! No, really, I'm sorry! Please, I might have gotten a little too angry, but please, don't take me away!"

"Ssshh." Tashigi placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we're not going to take you anywhere, if you just tell us what happened."

The girl nodded, but her father crossed his arms. "Did the neighbors call you? Listen, it probably sounded more dramatic than it actually was."

"Shall we sit down for a minute?" Smoker asked. This would probably take a while.

The man told his son to sit at the side of the couch, so that the four of them all could sit. Smoker sat down next to the boy and cast a look on the TV. It had subtitles and Smoker thought it was some kind of documentary about supernatural creatures of some sort. He chuckled. If kids liked to believe in that kind of stuff…

"See," the father started and Smoker turned his attention towards him again. "She's reaching puberty and ever since a half year or so, she just goes against everything my wife and I say and doesn't want to listen to anything!"

"That's not true!" the girl said and her father send the two officers a look as if to say 'see what I mean?' "I might have overreacted a little, but you were totally unfair!"

"Could you tell us exactly what happened in your own words? Your father may not interrupt you, he can tell his story afterwards," Tashigi asked her.

The girl began to tell her story, not leaving any detail out, even if it was completely irrelevant for the police. The story got so long that Smoker's mind slowly started to drift off, his eyes gazing over the television again. He wasn't really watching, until he picked up the word 'nightmare' in the subtitles.

Smoker's attention was drawn and he started to follow the program for a bit. It was about a demon called a nightmare. They said its victims woke up at night, not able to move, but aware of an evil presence in their room. The stories told that the demon could enter through the smallest spaces, like key holes or the small space between a door and a floor, and once inside, sat on top of their victim to suffocate them. They were often depicted in art with a ghost like horse, which, Smoker thought, would probably explain the 'mare' part in the word.

The police officer didn't believe a thing of the whole story, but something still didn't sit well with him. The story did have some resemblance with his own problem, somewhere. He couldn't sleep well and he did have the feeling someone or something was watching him or moving around in his room, sometimes. He shook his head. What was he even thinking? Demons or anything of the sort didn't exist.

He turned back towards the girl, trying to focus on her story again. "… but I know I was wrong and I really didn't mean to harm him, or anyone, really! You have to believe me, I promise it won't happen again!"

Tashigi sighed. "I can see you're really sorry, so don't worry about it too much. Can I ask your dad his side of the story now?"

The girl nodded, but the father shrugged. "I don't have much to add. She explained it pretty well, except for her vision on the things I said of course, but I guess you don't really care about that."

"That's more a case of personal interpretation, indeed." Tashigi smiled. "It seems like it was just a parent-child fight and though you should never use violence in situations like that, I don't think you'll have to worry too much. However, we are obliged to call Social Services and they will come to talk with you as well. But they are there to help you fix this, not to separate you."

The two of them nodded, obviously not happy, but still accepting the situation.

"Good, I think our work is done here then." Tashigi stood up and looked at her colleague.

Smoker followed her example. "One more question though. Why are these two not at school?"

"I'm sick," the boy spoke for the first time.

"And I have the first two hours off," the girl answered. "The teacher had personal issues or something."

Satisfied with the answer, Smoker nodded and the two of them took off.

* * *

The two nights after that, however, Smoker couldn't get the idea of the nightmare demon out of his head. Every time he woke up, he seemed to feel a pressure on his chest and he became more aware of a presence in his room, every time. He didn't actually _see_ a demon or a horse for that matter, but the feeling gnawed at him.

He didn't really believe in fairy tales. Or more accurate he _really_ didn't believe in them, but on the other hand, he couldn't explain what was happening to him either. On Wednesday he decided it couldn't hurt just to look up some more about these nightmares.

As he dug into the information the internet gave him about this creatures, he found that there were different details known about it and that they didn't always match. On the one hand, this confirmed his thoughts of the non-existence of the demons, but on the other, it showed him more things that resembled his own situation. He did have a lot of bad dreams too, after all, and they were called nightmares as well.

He even found someone who could help people who were haunted by supernatural creatures, who named nightmares as an example of one of those. Smoker snorted. Were those people for real? They took their beliefs so far that they thought they could catch, exorcise or vanquish these creatures?

'Don't be afraid to walk in, we're open for help every day between sunrise and sunset,' it said. Smoker couldn't help to look at the address. It was somewhere in Logue Town, so it wasn't too far away.

That was when he remembered something. He searched for the website of the Gold and Silvers Plaza and saw to his relief that there were still a few tickets available for the show on Friday. Three, to be precise. It only took Smoker a minute to order one of them and then relaxed again. At least that was taken care of, he could go to Izo's performance.

But that only started at seven p.m. and he had a whole day left before that. Smoker shut down his computer. He'd just try to follow his therapist's advice for two more nights and see if it began to work. If not, he could always decide what to do next, on Friday.

* * *

He was slowly starting to go crazy.

Smoker was now at a point where he pretended to sleep, just to focus on any other senses than seeing. He had become more and more sure of the fact that there was _something_ sneaking around in his bedroom while he tried to sleep, so now he was set on finding and catching it.

He focused on his hearing. It was completely silent for a long while, but then he thought he heard something, like a soft wind blowing through his room, or someone breathing. But he was sure his window was closed, so the first shouldn't be possible. Still, he heard something. Not opening his eyes, he tried to locate the sound. Was it on his left? Probably, but he was not sure, so that meant it couldn't be too close to him, right? Maybe near his foot end…

Smoker's heart jumped when he suddenly felt something touch his chest. He could only just in time remember to keep his eyes shut. There was a hand on his chest, he was fairly certain of that. Maybe something else than a hand, but it felt like a lot like a hand, a female one, if the soft touch was anything to go by. And the person – or thing – it belonged to, could probably feel his heart beating like he had just ran a marathon.

Smoker didn't wait any longer and without opening his eyes, grabbed the hand on his chest. Or that was the plan. He felt something in his hand, but it was soft and more like a bit of wind than flesh and bones, and it disappeared almost immediately.

He finally opened his eyes and looked at his chest. Nothing. A quick look around him didn't give him any information either. Did it hide? Smoker thought, breathing heavily and heart still beating as if it had to keep two people alive.

There had _really_ been something on his chest! But where the hell was it now and what the fuck was it? Smoker started to panic. It had to be the demon, though he had no idea where it was hiding now. Besides, shouldn't he be paralyzed then? Or maybe that had been more a figure of speech; paralyzed by fear. Because fear was surely something he felt by now.

"Show yourself, you bastard," Smoker said as he sat up. "I know what you are! A nightmare can't scare me." Well, that was technically not true, but Smoker would die before he let anyone know he was scared. "Because you're a nightmare, right?"

Smoker could swear he heard a soft chuckle, but he couldn't locate its source, it seemed to come from everywhere. Or maybe it was only in his head.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down a bit. "Listen, if you leave me alone, I will leave you alone." He didn't even know why he said that. Like a demon would listen to that. If it could even understand human language. Smoker frowned at that thought. He probably meant: if there even _was_ a demon.

He lay down again. He was absolutely going crazy. What the hell was he thinking about demons? Talking to them even?! Smoker shook his head. The loss of sleep was really getting to him now. _Really_ getting to him. So much that he was losing his mind. He shouldn't go to a sleep doctor or some psychic, he should go to a psychiatrist.

He closed his eyes and spend the next hour convincing himself that his mind was fucking with him and that demons, ghosts and whatever other creatures he could think of, didn't exist. He had always believed that for a hundred percent, so why was he starting to doubt that now?

After an hour, he got so tired of doubting the non-existence of supernatural creatures, however, that he wasn't able to keep his eyes open for any longer and miraculously, he drifted to sleep.

* * *

Smoker paced up and down the pavement. Was he really going to do this? He had made it here now, but he could still turn around. Last night had been horrible, but now that he had slept a few hours – even if it were way _too_ few – he could think a bit clearer again. And because of that, he wasn't sure if he should really be here.

"You don't have to be shy," said a female voice behind him. "You can come in, don't worry, I was expecting you."

Smoker had turned around and looked suspiciously at her. The woman before him seemed pretty normal to him, though her make-up and clothing style was a bit on the dark side, matching her black hair. She smiled at him. "You can call me Madam Shyarly."

Smoker frowned. "I… don't think I'm at the right place."

"Yes you are," she said. "You want me to help you with a problem, don't you?"

_Oh, to hell with it!_ "Yes, you're right. My name is Smoker." He shook her hand. "But you probably knew that already."

"That was one of the few things I didn't know," she said smiling and let him inside her house.

"So, uhm, can you read minds?" Smoker asked, a little nervous. This woman and this place gave him chills. He'd never trusted people who busied themselves with the occult very much, and that hadn't changed since he learned about nightmares. Once he entered her living room, the feeling only grew. There were various objects – was that a crystal ball? – that looked weird enough not to trust them and there was a suspicious scent as well, probably incense.

Madam Shyarly chuckled. "I cannot. Please sit down, you don't have to be afraid, I only get visions from time to time, or even just a feeling about something. Besides that, I'm mainly specialized in dealing with beings that go beyond normal human comprehension."

Smoker carefully sat down on the chair she pointed him towards. "So, do you know why I'm here?"

She sat down on the other side of the table and shook her head. "Only that you've got a problem and that you're not convinced that there is more between heaven and earth."

"I'm not even sure there's a heaven to begin with," he mumbled.

She kept smiling at him, which unnerved him a bit more. "So please, tell me your story."

Smoker started to tell about his sleeping problems, about what he experienced at night, especially the last nights, and about what he knew about nightmares, which he suspected it to be.

"So you think it's the nightmare demon?" she asked thoughtfully. "But you didn't actually see anything, am I right?"

"Well, I saw _something_ , but it were more shadows or movements. A presence that could escape from my sight every time I was about to set eyes on it," Smoker explained, already feeling a little less awkward since she didn't show any signs of disbelieve or thinking that he was crazy.

"Hmm." She nodded slowly. "I don't think it's a nightmare. They usually aren't that good at hiding themselves." She drummed with her fingers on the table for a second, seeming to think about what else it could be. "I think you are haunted by a shadow person."

Smoker raised his eyebrows. "And that is…?"

"Shadow people are normal people at day, but merge with the darkness as soon as the night falls. That is to say, they turn into shadows. They sometimes are able to keep their human form – more or less – for a short time, after sunset, but it costs them a lot of energy. They visit their victims in their shadow form, entering rooms much the same way as nightmares do, through the smallest openings between doors or a keyhole, etcetera," Madam Shyarly explained. "It could explain the bad dreams you have, too. They feed on fear and are able to create it as well, mostly through dreams or just spooking around. The most obvious thing, why I think this is what you're dealing with, is that they always disappear the moment you try to look straight at them. Then they literally merge with the darkness inside your room."

Smoker let out a long yawn, covering his mouth with his hand. "I'm sorry," he apologized, but she smiled understandingly. "So what can I do about this? Is there a way to get rid of this shadow person or am I doomed to sleepless nights for the rest of my life?"

"Well, if you'd be stuck with him or her, you'd probably not live that long anyway. You'll literally die from fatigue, because it would probably become worse and cause you nights without _any_ sleep," she told him. "Fortunately for you, you can catch the shadow person. The easiest thing would be to find out what they look like during the day, and catch them then. However, that's very difficult, since they could be literally anyone. You wouldn't recognize them if you passed them in the street. The other option is to set a trap and catch them at night." She stood up and walked over to one of her cabinets. She took a box from it and placed it on the table. Removing the cloth on top of the box, she began to explain again. "These five crystals are the key to their capture. You have to place them in such a way that you could draw a pentagram between them, a crystal at each end of it."

Smoker's knowledge about the occult went just far enough to know what a pentagram was, but he was really sceptic about this kind of ritual. "I… just place them on the floor?"

"Yes, but not visible, because these creatures are just as intelligent as humans. So if they see a crystal, they will immediately know what's up and avoid the trap," Madam Shyarly warned him. "So cover them up. When the shadow person enters the circle of crystals, a spiritual cage will catch them and they won't be able to leave until one of the crystals is removed. So don't do that. When you've succeeded, give me a call, I will come to vanquish it."

"I can't… vanquish it myself?" Smoker asked. He still wasn't convinced of all this supernatural stuff.

She chuckled. "No, I have a gift and years of experience. Do not try to do it yourself."

Eventually, Smoker agreed and left with the box of crystals. He guessed he could at least give it a try. The woman didn't ask him for any money yet, just that he'd pay her whatever he felt was right _after_ the job was done.

* * *

~ Bonus ~

_He looked into the mirror while his hair was done by his hairstylist in such a way that it looked as if it was cut short._

" _Everything is sold out tonight, does that make you nervous?" Inazuma asked._

_The black haired man smiled. "Not at all. Though I do have a feeling someone I know will be watching tonight."_

_The hairstylist chuckled. "Someone you_ know? _And why do you have that feeling?"_

" _Okay, someone I like," the other confessed. "And I might have secretly checked his job schedule, when he wasn't looking. It was his day off today."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Be Continued ~ (though a little later, gomen)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took a little long, but here is the next chapter. Another tiny little thing... there's gonna be 8 chapters instead of 7. As far as I can see now. But since I'm bad at planning apparently, don't be surprised if it turns into 9 chapters XD
> 
> Anyway, hope you all enjoy!

He sat in his car, staring out of his window, while eating the double bacon burger he had just ordered at the drive through of MacDonalds. He glanced at the box with crystals at his backseat, to make sure they hadn't gone anywhere. After all, if things like shadow people really existed, why would he trust some magical crystals to not disappear suddenly?

Madam Shyarly had told him he would probably never recognize shadow people as being those creatures, but as Smoker stared at the other cars in the parking lot, he got a pretty good idea of who could be something like that. As he recalled all the events since he had moved to this city, the pieces slowly started to fit together.

Portgas D. Ace, it must be him. Of course he could escape from his police cell at night! There is always some tiny space through which he could have escaped, no matter how thick and well locked the cell door might be. Besides that, Smoker remembered the words of the witness who had withdrawn. "I just want a night of sleep," he had said. And, "You can't help me." It all made sense now. Portgas had been visiting him at night, scaring him, to make sure he would pull back as a witness. And apparently in such a way that Pagaya knew what he was, or at least that he was something supernatural, something the police couldn't handle. _Well, we'll see about that now_ , Smoker thought.

It was one thing that he haunted a witness though. He could understand that, even if he absolutely disapproved of it. But it was another thing to visit a police officer in his sleep. Why would he even do that? Sure, Ace probably didn't like him very much, but it was kind of dangerous, since there was always a chance of Smoker finding out his true nature. Which was exactly what he had done now.

He wondered though, would Izo know about this? Would he know what his so called brother really was? Portgas' boyfriend would probably know, right? You couldn't live together with someone without knowing something like that, so he had to be aware of it.

Smoker sighed and looked at his watch. This was something that had to wait until later. It was a quarter to seven, so he'd better get inside. He took a peppermint to get the taste of fast food out of his mouth and left his car.

Inside the theater, he showed his ticket and sat down, he had a seat somewhere on the side of a middle row, not too bad. As he waited for the performance to begin, he thought about the past week. He had met Izo a few times, sometimes planned, sometimes coincidentally. However, they hadn't taken it to the next step yet. Not that Smoker minded that very much, he actually liked it that they didn't rush things. That didn't mean he hadn't thought about it, though.

But he really shouldn't do that right now. Smoker shook his head to get rid of the image of a stripping Izo, especially the image of him doing that on the stage currently before him. The lights dimmed and Smoker focused on the stage as the curtains opened.

* * *

When the performance was over and the lights went on again, Smoker couldn't help but smile. Izo really was a good actor. And even though the story of the play hadn't really been Smoker's taste, he'd still enjoyed it to see his neighbor in his element.

He got out is phone from his pant pocket end send out a text message: 'You're a great actor ;-) Do you need a ride home?'

It took a few minutes before Smoker got a reaction and he was forced to get out into the hallway of the theater during that time. 'You're here? I would love a ride home ;-) Can you wait in the theater café? I'll be there in fifteen minutes at most.'

'Sure, I'll be waiting,' he texted back. He ordered a coke in the café and sat down at one of the few tables. He watched the people around him, wondering why they were here, if they'd really come because the play seemed interesting to them or if they'd come for a certain actor as well. Maybe some had come for Izo too. Would he have many fans? Smoker could imagine it.

At the same time, he watched the crowd to see if there wasn't anything unlawful going on as well. He couldn't help it, it was in his nature to always keep an eye on that. So far, everything seemed fine, though he was ready to get to action when he saw a man bring his hand towards a woman's butt. However, she seemed to be his girlfriend or something of the like, or at least she didn't seem to mind it.

"You're off duty, officer," Izo's voice suddenly sounded very close to Smoker's ear, making the latter's heart skip a beat.

The white haired man checked his watch. "That was quick," he said as he tried to get the fluttering feeling in his chest under control. Seriously, the last time he checked he was an adult man, so no need to feel like a teenage girl with a huge crush, right?

"Yeah, I thought I shouldn't let you wait too long," Izo answered, while standing next to him so that Smoker could see him. "I thought you might appreciate that." The tone of his voice was slightly accusing.

"I do. I was just surprised." Smoker was also surprised to see Izo looked like his usual self, hair partly in a knot behind his head and make-up perfectly in order. It was such a big change with how he had looked on stage. "Do you want something to drink or do you wanna go home immediately?"

Izo smiled apologetic. "To be honest, I'm kinda tired, so home sounds really appealing."

Smoker nodded. "Sure." He downed the last of his coke and stood up. He didn't mind Izo's decision at all, since he wasn't that much of a person to hang around too long in theaters. He didn't really feel at ease there.

While on their way out, a man stopped Izo. "Wait, are you the one that played the male lead?"

Izo smiled. "Yes, that was me."

"Wow, you're so… different," the man, probably in his forties, answered. "If I'd seen you before, I would have never guessed you could be so… manly."

Smoker send the man a death-glare and had the urge to punch him in the gut, but at that moment the man was pushed towards the exit by a woman.

She looked apologetic at them. "I am so sorry for my husband's rudeness. You were great! We loved the play, no matter what he might say, he loved it too."

Izo smiled at her, but Smoker could see it wasn't a very happy smile. "Thanks."

The woman hurried after her partner and pulled him with her, talking angrily at him.

"That guy was really rude," Smoker said, still a little angry, as they too walked out of the building.

Izo shrugged. "Oh well, I'm used to it."

"That doesn't make it okay."

"Really, I'm not that offended." Izo chuckled. "But your anger is kinda cute."

Smoker turned towards him, raising an eyebrow while giving him a piercing look. "I dare you say that again."

The dark haired man smirked. "You're cute," he said and he softly kissed his lips. Just for a second, then the touch was gone again.

Smoker grumbled under his breath, while walking the last bit to his car. He was called a lot of things in his life before, but 'cute' was a first.

"You're a lot more than cute, though," Izo said when they'd reached the car. Smoker turned around and was surprised to find the other not going towards the passenger's side of the car, but standing right behind him and pressing him against the cold metal of his vehicle. Izo's lips were upon his again, this time longer and Smoker gladly returned the kiss that soon involved tongues and became very passionate.

When they broke contact, both in need for breath, Smoker groaned softly. "We're in public," he reminded his lover, though he badly wanted more of it.

"So? Are you afraid to be seen with me?" Izo asked, still having a heated look in his eyes.

Smoker chuckled. "Not at all. But I thought you might care for your reputation or anything."

The actor laughed. "I'm not really famous or anything, it's not like there's paparazzi on the lookout for me."

He had barely said it when there was a flash of light reflecting on their faces. When they turned towards the source of the light, they saw a man, standing only a few yards away from them. He carried a big camera and smiled smugly at them. "Are you sure about that?" After that, he hurried away.

Izo created a little room between him and Smoker, looking a little confused. "Well, that was a first."

"Seems like you're a celebrity now," Smoker said. He didn't like it when people took pictures of him, but he guessed it couldn't be helped. He wasn't going to let his evening be spoiled by it. "Well, get in the car, so we can go home."

Izo nodded and walked towards the other side of the car to get into the passenger's seat, while Smoker got behind the wheel. The dark haired man cast a look at the backseat when he fastened his seatbelt. "What's that for kind of mysterious looking package."

Smoker looked over his shoulder as well, seeing the box with crystals, covered by the cloth. He had already forgotten about them. "Oh that." For a moment, he contemplated if he should tell Izo everything, but then he decided against it. His neighbor would probably think he was crazy. "Those are just some things I still needed that have bought today."

Izo seemed to accept this answer and Smoker started the car, driving away from the parking lot. "So, what did you think of the play?" the actor asked.

Smoker thought about how he would formulate his sentence for a moment. "To be honest… if it weren't for you, I would have never bought a ticket for it. But it wasn't as bad as I expected. Not that I expected it to be bad, but the story just didn't really speak to me. However, you and your colleagues proved me wrong. Especially you were great. Even though I haven't slept much the past weeks, I haven't fallen asleep during the play, so that says something."

"I didn't know you had problems with sleeping?" Izo said, looking at Smoker from the corner of his eyes.

Smoker needed all his attention on the road as he drove, so couldn't really look away. "Yeah, well, I'm sure it'll be over soon."

"Really? Why?" Izo asked him.

"I… have been to a specialist who has given me some tips," Smoker answered. "It will get better within a few days, I'm sure of that."

Izo stared out of the window. "I'm glad of that." It was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "So, you thought the story was shit, but my acting was good?"

"I didn't think it was shit, it was just not the kind of story I would usually go for. And your acting was _great_ ," the police man defended himself. "I could barely recognize you."

"Well, thanks for that, at least," Izo chuckled. "Though, I already knew I was a great actor."

Smoker snorted. "At least you're confident."

He saw Izo turn his head towards him from the corners of his eyes. Suddenly he felt a touch on his right leg, indicating that Izo had placed his hand on there. The dark haired man softly started to caress his neighbor's leg. "Some people like confident men."

Smoker looked down at the hand for a moment, before focusing on the road again. "It seems I do, too."

A deep, and, to Smoker, very sexy chuckle escaped Izo's lips. "I know."

"Now you're getting a little cocky," the white haired man said, though he couldn't help but smile in the privacy his mind. He felt the hand slide up a little, caressing a higher part of his thigh.

"Is that so?" Izo asked teasingly.

It was getting profoundly harder to concentrate on the road, as his heart was beating fast and another part of his body also started to ask for attention. Smoker cleared his throat. "You're slightly distracting me from driving."

"If you want me to stop, all you have to do is ask."

Smoker didn't answer to that. It was just a bit too much for his pride to ask his neighbor to stop, because he couldn't focus well enough on driving. Besides, he didn't actually want to miss the feeling of Izo's hand on his leg. Even if he was now getting dangerously close to his crotch.

After a while, he drove into their city, over the main road towards their flat. "We're almost there," Smoker said, more to himself than to Izo. He only had to concentrate on driving a few minutes longer.

He tried to keep in the relieved breath he wanted to let out when he parked the car, so he wouldn't show Izo how much energy it had cost him to stay focused.

Both men got out of the car and Izo smirked at his neighbor. "I see you weren't too distracted to make it home." He winked and walked towards the staircase.

Smoker quickly went after him. He wasn't going to let his neighbor get away so easily. Toying with him the whole way and now just walking away? He wasn't going to let that happen.

He'd caught up with his neighbor by the time they'd reached their floor. "Izo, you _are_ coming over for a drink, aren't you?" he asked as they walked towards their apartments.

Izo didn't answer until they had reached Smoker's door. There he pressed his neighbor against it for another passionate kiss, making Smoker moan softly. But when the dark haired man pulled away, he took a step back. "I'm sorry, Smokey, I've gotta work again tomorrow, and as I said, I'm pretty tired."

Smoker closed his eyes. Was he kidding? First giving him hope by kissing him and then holding off? He sighed, but knew he had to respect the other's wishes.

"But," Izo started, letting a finger run over the bit of skin Smoker's shirt showed. "What about tomorrow? The show of tomorrow starts at three o'clock, so I have the evening off. We could have some fun then… if you've got the time."

Smoker tried to look casual when he nodded, instead of showing how badly he wanted the actor to be with him the next evening. "Yeah, sure, don't think I have plans for tomorrow evening."

Izo smiled. "Alright, see you tomorrow then." He kissed his lover one more time on the lips. "Sleep well."

"You too," Smoker murmured as he watched his neighbor walk to his own door.

Izo turned the lock, but before he entered his apartment, he turned his head towards the white haired man once more. "Smokey… thanks for coming today."

An uncharacteristic smile formed itself on Smoker's lips and his heart sped up a little. "The pleasure was mine."

When Izo had disappeared inside his own home, Smoker let his head fall against the door, slightly annoyed with himself. _Damn,_ he had it _bad_.

* * *

When he went to bed, a few hours later, Smoker realized he had left the crystals in his car. He had been so focused on Izo that he had completely forgotten about them. He groaned. He really didn't feel like going outside again to get them, so they'd have to wait one more night. Or hopefully two, if his plans for tomorrow worked out.

However, when he lay in bed, this meant he wasn't able to even close his eyes. Smoker was just waiting for the bastard shadow person to show up. When he thought a bit more about it, even if it was very likely him, he couldn't accuse Portgas just yet. He had many clues, but no evidence yet.

Besides, he couldn't let Ace know that he suspected him, or let the shadow person know that he now _really_ knew what they were, because they would be on their guard. They would probably expect him to set a trap then, at some time. Smoker shook his head. He really must have sounded stupid when he'd said that he knew about them being a nightmare. Had he really expected to scare the creature away with that, even if he had been right about its nature?

After having lain awake for two hours and not having noticed anything irregular or suspicious, his eyes slowly started to feel heavy and flutter close. He was on the edge of falling asleep when he felt a bit of wind gazing his arm.

His eyes snapped open again and he saw a shadow hurry away. Great, just when he got hope the creature would leave him alone this night, it was here again. Smoker groaned.

He sat up and turned on the light next to his bed. Getting a book, he pretended to read, while thinking of what to do next. It wasn't an option to get the crystals after all, since the creature would know then. But he also couldn't sleep as long as there was something or someone spooking around in his bedroom.

Could shadow people read minds, Smoker suddenly wondered. Because if they did, he wouldn't even have to bother with the crystals, since the creature would already know about them and avoid them. Well, Madam Shyarly hadn't said anything about that and if they were able to do that, she would probably have said that, right? It was a pretty important detail to leave out.

While he used the next hour to figure out if there was a way to get some sleep this night without letting the shadow person know how much he knew, there was an eerie feeling growing inside him. Slowly, thoughts like 'what if I won't get any sleep tonight' and 'how long can one survive without sleep' started to appear in his mind. He had heard it once, what was it? A week or a month? Someone had gone without sleeping for eleven days, he remembered. It didn't kill him, but Smoker had heard that it was possible. Besides, Shyarly had told him he could die of fatigue, so it was possible, he could die.

The more he thought about it, the more panic seemed to take him over. He tried to think rationally about this, to put everything into perspective, but it didn't seem to work. It was only when he was about to freak out, that he realized what it was. Shadow people could evoke fear. And that was exactly what was happening to him now. Somehow, when he realized it was all the creature's doing, he could find a peace of mind to some degree. Though not completely.

Smoker sighed. It seemed there was no way he'd get a bit sleep tonight, unless he did something about it. So he cleared his throat. "Listen, I don't know what the hell you are, but could you just leave me the fuck alone? Go bother someone else, will you?" Smoker said annoyed. It stayed awkwardly silent for a few moments and Smoker thought for a short while that the shadow person had left him. But then he could swear he saw something move again. "Just one fucking night! Is that too much to ask?! I need to be rested tomorrow, just let me sleep and get the fuck out of my apartment!"

He never got an answer. Not that he'd really expected the creature to answer, but some sign of communication would have been nice. However, after a while, Smoker didn't notice any movement anymore. He kept looking around his room for about an hour longer, to make sure there was no one spooking around anymore, but he didn't see any shadows move or feel any shift in the air anymore, let alone something that could be described as a touch.

Eventually, he had calmed down and closed his eyes again. He soon fell into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

He was staring at his computer screen for quite a while now. It was a quiet Saturday and after having been on patrol in the morning, they had been sent to the station for the afternoon. They could be called away any moment, but until then, they should be doing some paperwork.

"Say, Tashigi," he started, after having done nothing but staring for ten minutes. "Do you believe in the supernatural?"

His partner looked up from her work. "You mean in things like ghosts? Or do you mean religion?"

"No, ghosts and demons and the like." Smoker made sure to sound as casual as possible.

"I… don't know. I don't think there's things like that, but I'm not sure," she answered the question. "You know, there could be things like ghosts, something between life and death. But there could just as well be nothing. We'll only find out when we die, I guess. But if you're talking about vampires and werewolves and such, then no, I don't believe in them. I'm not a child anymore, Smoker."

"Hmm." He'd thought she'd answer something like that. He guessed he couldn't really discuss his problem with her then.

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason," Smoker responded and he pretended to focus on his screen again. "Just a passing thought."

"Smoker!" A sudden shout through the office shook them up. Their pink haired boss came walking quickly towards them. "Hina is very displeased!" She'd reached his desk and threw a newspaper on his keyboard. "What's this?"

Smoker looked down at the paper, which showed a clear picture of him and Izo, kissing like there was no tomorrow. He raised his eyebrows. He hadn't been aware that the photographer had been there for so long already. Underneath the photo stood the headliner "Rising actor has passionate affair with cop."

He looked up at his boss again. "That's a picture of me. And my neighbor."

"He seems to be a bit more than just your neighbor," Hina commented, obviously not happy with the situation.

"So?" Smoker didn't see her point.

"You've got a public function! You should be setting an example for society, you know that very well." Hina looked accusing at him.

"So I can't date my neighbor who happens to be an actor?" Smoker was getting annoyed.

"Of course you can," Hina answered. "You just could be a little more discrete about it. Not having passionate make out sessions in a public parking lot."

Smoker shrugged. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, it's just love." He closed his eyes. He did not just say that. _Love?_

"You think people can still take you seriously when they see this?" Hina had lowered her voice already, but still seemed displeased. "You will be known as the guy that has an affair with some celeb. Who is a _guy_ , no less."

"Oh, so that's what this is about?" Smoker crossed his arms.

Hina looked him straight in the eyes. "Partly. Listen, Hina doesn't care whether you date a man or a woman or a dog. But there are people who _are_ uncomfortable with it and will complain about this kind of thing. It would just make things a lot easier if you held your private life a bit _more_ private."

"I didn't ask for these pictures to be taken. And if anyone has a problem with who I date and where I kiss with them, they can come to me," Smoker said, now downright pissed. Why did people always have to care so much for what others did in their private time?

"Hina will tell them that. Just try to be a bit more careful next time, alright?" his boss told him.

Smoker shrugged. "I'll try." He should have gone after that photographer after all, but he wouldn't make the same mistake twice. If he saw the guy again, he would make sure he'd leave them alone next time.

Satisfied with that promise, Hina walked away. Smoker saw Tashigi trying to see past their computers, to get a look of what was in the newspaper, but she didn't succeed. Smoker rolled his eyes and tossed the paper towards her. "Didn't know you were the gossip type."

"Oh hardly, I'm just curious about my colleague," she answered as she almost caught the newspaper. When she had it ready on her desk, she gave the picture a look over. "So that's your neighbor?"

Smoker hummed confirming and tried to focus on his work again. However, now his mind had drifted off to Izo and the previous night.

"What's his name?" Tashigi asked.

"It's probably stated in the article." Smoker had also by no means forgotten that Izo had agreed to come over _coming_ night. It was something he was really looking forward to. He started to plan out this evening in his mind. Wouldn't it be great if Izo could stay until tomorrow morning? Even with a shadow person on the loose, they wouldn't dare to come visit him when he had company, would they? Izo wouldn't be in danger if he stayed with him, he was pretty sure of it. Especially if his hunch was right and the shadow person was Ace. Yeah, that wouldn't be a problem. Smoker couldn't wait to get home and make everything ready for his date.

He vaguely registered Tashigi saying something, so he looked at her again. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Oh, nothing, never mind." She chuckled. "I think I've already got my answer."

* * *

~ Bonus ~

_He stared out of the window. It had taken him all of his willpower to leave, but eventually he had been able to do so. "The desperate sound of his voice didn't really help, though," he said to himself, since there was no one around to talk to, at this hour._

_The creature, barely visible in the darkness of the night, sighed. "He's really like an addiction."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Be Continued~!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long! But this is a longer chapter than usual, so I hope it makes up for it :)  
> Warning: this chapter contains explicit sexual scenes :D  
> Also, the song used in this chapter, is 'Nasty Naughty Boy' by Christina Aguilera, for the people who might want to listen to it while reading that part. (I would advice you to not listen to it before the music is put on in the story, just to keep it a bit more of a surprise if you don't know the song yet.)  
> Oh yeah, and thanks to everyone who helped me with the movies ;)   
> Hope you enjoy~! One (or two if it gets too long XD) more chapter after this! :D

He cast one more look at the mirror – the fourth time already, even though he normally didn't look at his own image more than once a day – before he opened the door. On his doorstep stood Izo, looking incredibly sexy, and smirking confidently at him. His hair was loose and his make-up was subtle, but exactly enough. Except for his shoes, his clothing wasn't distinguishable as 'female' and it didn't look bad on him at all.

Without noticing it, Smoker's mouth had slowly fallen open. "You… look… amazing."

The corner of Izo's mouth curled up a bit more. "Thank you." He came inside. "You look… delicious as well."

Smoker chuckled and shook his head, while he led the other to the living room. "I poured you some wine, since you seemed to like it last time and I won't drink it when I'm alone," he told his neighbor.

"That's fine, I did like it."

Smoker sat down on the couch and Izo followed him, sitting as close to him as possible without sitting on top of him. The dark haired man leaned in and captured the other in a kiss, before he could say anything. Smoker didn't protest – why would he – and placed his hand behind his lover's head to deepen the kiss some more.

After what felt like an eternity, but still not long enough, they broke apart again. Izo smiled. "Did you have anything special in mind for tonight?"

"Hmm, let's do _this_ all night," Smoker said as he pulled Izo close again. The actor smiled as his their lips touched again. This time, the kiss didn't last that long though.

"I see you're already addicted to me," Izo said teasingly. "But I meant watching a movie or something like that."

"Yeah, a movie could be nice," Smoker said. "How about some action?"

Izo gave him a look as if he'd never been disappointed more. "Action? How romantic."

"Don't tell me you want to see some romantic comedy," Smoker huffed.

"They aren't all bad, you know," Izo defended them. "But I wanna bet you don't even own one."

"You're right about that. They might not be bad, but they are predictable as hell." The white haired man had never understood why people liked those cliché movies.

"Alright, so what about horror?" Izo suggested.

Smoker raised his eyebrow. "You like horror?"

"Only the scary kind, not the gross kind."

He smirked. "Want me to comfort you?"

Izo laughed. " _You_ comfort _me?_ "

"Well, I am never gonna be scared by anything, so…" Smoker stood up to search through his DVDs.

"Really now?" Izo sounded amused. "Let's see what you got then."

Smoker searched between his movies and picket out three DVDs that fitted Izo's genre of preference. He didn't own that many horror movies, since he liked action and thrillers more. He tossed the movies to his neighbor, who looked though them. "The Shining, such a classic, I may hope you've seen that one already? It's about as old as you are."

"Yeah, I've seen it twice, I think," Smoker answered. "It wasn't really that scary."

"Well, if you've seen it before, you already know what's gonna happen, so that's no fun anyway," Izo commented.

"I haven't seen the other two yet." Smoker waited near the DVD-player.

Izo looked at them. "'Mirrors' and 'The Conjuring', hmm." He looked up. "Let's go with the last one." He handed 'The Conjuring' back to its owner.

Smoker put on the DVD and sat down next to his neighbor again. As the movie played, he found himself often distracted by the person sitting next to him. Really, how was he expected to watch a movie while the object of his affection was sitting so close to him? After a bit of a scary moment in the movie, which might have let his heart beat just the tiniest bit faster, he yawned and stretched his arm out to place it 'coincidentally' around Izo's shoulder.

The dark haired man looked at him and smirked. "Need me close to you already?"

"I don't _need_ it, but that doesn't take away that I do _want_ you close to me," Smoker said. "And not because I'm scared or anything."

"Of course you're not," Izo said in a tone that made clear he didn't believe him.

As the movie proceeded, Smoker had to admit to himself – and only to himself – that he did get a little scared. He never had that before, when watching horror, but then again, he had never believed in anything supernatural. Now that he was pretty sure dark creatures and who knows what else, _did_ exist, the movie somehow got to him more. And the stupid thing was, that you always _knew_ something was going to happen, but it didn't happen _yet_. And that was what made it a bit scary, he guessed.

He was not trying to look away from the screen or anything, he was just casting a look at Izo for the pleasure of looking at Izo. He saw his neighbor sitting with his eyes closed, but a faint smile on his lips. Smoker raised an eyebrow. "Too scary for you that you can't watch anymore?"

Izo let out a delighted sigh. "No, I'm just enjoying the smell of fear coming from you." He opened his eyes and looked straight at him. "Who knew such a strong, tough cop could get so afraid?"

"I'm not afraid," Smoker said, slightly thrown off by the fact that his neighbor honestly seemed to enjoy it, even though he had hidden it pretty well, he thought.

"You're not? Then why don't you show me how strong and tough you really are?"

_Goddammit, screw the movie_ , Smoker thought. He didn't know how Izo did it, but he had already completely forgotten about the film and was only interested in his neighbor now. He caught Izo's lips and pushed him down the couch, while letting his tongue enter the other's mouth and enjoying the sensation of Izo's tongue against his. He could do this for hours, if not days, and he would never get bored.

Suddenly, he felt a hand slide up the inside of his leg and Izo broke their kiss, breathing heavily. "We're missing the movie like this," he said, but didn't stop his hand from running higher up Smoker's leg.

"I couldn't care less," the white haired man responded and he got back to kissing again.

Izo's hand caressed his thigh near his crotch for a while, making Smoker wonder if he'd ever go further than that. Until he felt those fingers brush – accidentally or not, Smoker wasn't sure – against his manhood. A half-suppressed moan escaped his lips and Izo chuckled. "At least you're strong and _hard_."

"Oh hell." Smoker stood up, lifting his lover with him. Izo immediately wrapped his legs around his neighbor's waist and continued kissing him hungrily. Smoker started walking backwards towards his bedroom, not really being able to focus on where he was going, as his mind was occupied by something else right now.

Before he'd reached his destination, his back hit a wall, the impact breaking their kiss. Izo apparently took this as a reason to start kissing his neck, softly biting and sucking on the flesh he found there, extracting a deep moan from his lover. Really, how could this man be so skilled with his mouth in everything he did with it?

Izo removed his legs from their position around Smoker's body, and stood on the floor again, so he could reach lower, kissing the skin on his collarbone and down, until he reached the fabric of Smoker's white T-shirt.

Smoker felt slim fingers crawling the underside of his shirt and pulling it up as fast as possible. He helped a bit so that the piece of clothing could slide over his head and it landed somewhere near the couch. Izo hummed, happy with what he saw. "That's much better."

"You thin- aaahh!" Smoker threw his head back as Izo softly bit down on his nipple. He felt the other smirk against his skin. The bastard was enjoying this too much, but Smoker himself was guilty of that as well, so he wasn't one to say anything about it.

Izo let his tongue play with the nipple for a bit more, while using his fingers on the other one, slowly driving Smoker mad. He kissed his way down his lover's chest and his abs, until Izo was sitting on his knees in front of him. He looked up at Smoker, long black strands framing his face, fluttering his perfect eyelashes and breathing heavily.

Smoker couldn't look away, didn't want to either. Those dark, lustful eyes, the promise of pleasure that they held… was there anything more arousing? He gasped when Izo brought his hands towards his pants and opened the button, followed by the zipper.

Izo raised his eyebrows as Smoker's erection sprung free from its confinements, but then he smiled cheekily. "Officer, is it even legal to not wear any underwear?"

"I'm not sure if you should be calling me officer in these kind of situations," Smoker commented, though the words did do something to him.

"Why not?" Izo asked innocently, breath tickling the other's erection. "It's not even role-play."

Smoker clenched his teeth together, almost losing his sanity. "That's the thing, it… kinda sounds like I'm abusing my power," he managed to bring out.

"Don't you like to use a little force?" Izo let his teeth graze over the tip of his lover's cock.

Smoker threw his head back, panting heavily. "Don't… tempt me." He moaned when he felt that hot, wet mouth close around him.

Forcing himself to look down again, at Izo, he was met with the man's dark eyes, looking up while he moved his head up and down Smoker's erection. The white haired man placed his hand in the other's hair. "Oh… fuck, Izo… you're so… _damn_ skilled… with your mouth."

Izo bobbed his head a few more times, taking him in as deep as possible and sucking hard on the tip before releasing him, driving Smoker insane. "That's not the only thing I'm skilled with, I can promise you that," Izo said and he let his tongue run up the shaft of Smoker's cock one more time, licking up the bit of pre-cum that was leaking from the tip.

Smoker growled. "I wouldn't want to miss that."

A scream from the TV shook them up and Smoker cast an annoyed look at the device. He didn't want to waste time putting the movie on pause though. "Let's go to my bedroom so you can show me your other talents."

"I couldn't agree more." The dark haired man stood up and quickly followed his lover to the bedroom, where he closed the door and pushed the other onto the bed. He observed him for a bit, letting out a deep chuckle. "Now look at you, being half naked, obviously very aroused, but your butt still clothed in those pants of yours."

"You can take them off, if you want," Smoker said with a hoarse voice. " _If_ you take off your own clothes as well."

Izo smirked as he looked down on him. "You want me to strip?"

"You were skilled in a lot of fields, you said. So show it." Smoker couldn't wait to see that show.

"I would, but I don't have music. Unless you want me to dance on the distant screams of that family in the movie." Somehow, Izo managed to make even _that_ sound sensual.

However, that idea didn't seem too appealing to Smoker, so he fished his phone out of his pant pocket and tossed it towards his lover. "I've got Spotify, so choose any song you like."

Izo quickly searched for something and soon music started and he placed the phone on the nightstand.

" _Come here, big boy."_

Oh God, what kind of music had he chosen? Smoker didn't recognize the song, but it seemed to work as Izo slowly started to sway his hips.

" _You've been a bad, bad boy.  
I'm gonna take my time, so enjoy."_

Izo slowly took off the open gilet he had been wearing, and threw it onto the floor. Then he slowly started to undo the buttons of his blouse, while giving Smoker the most seductive look he'd ever seen. The white haired man reached down and slowly started to stroke his cock that begged for attention.

" _I got you breaking into a sweat,_  
Got you hot, bothered, and wet,  
You nasty boy."

Izo followed the movements of his lover's hand with hungry eyes as he slowly worked down the buttons of his shirt, while moving his body to the rhythm of the music. It was entrancing, really, how sensually, elegant, and at the same time freaking _hot_ that man could move.

" _Hush now, don't say a word  
I'm gonna give you what you deserve."_

The shirt slowly slid off Izo's shoulders, revealing perfect pale skin and – was that a tattoo on his right arm? Smoker needed to investigate that at a later time.

" _Oh no, oh there I go again  
I need a spanking, 'cause I've been bad."_

The man in front of Smoker moved his body for a while without taking anything off, just to show off what wonders his upper body held. The police officer watched in awe, not even able to look away from the magic that was in front of him.

Izo brought his hands to the black pants he was wearing and opened the button. The rest was hidden from sight, since he turned around to give Smoker a good look at his gorgeous behind.

" _Oh baby, for all it's worth  
I swear I'll be the first to blow your mind."_

Smoker's eyes widened and his mouth went dry as Izo's pants slid down. Deep purple, lacy panties covered his butt and while stepping out of his trousers, the dark haired man turned around to show his front again. The fabric there was barely enough to contain his fully erect manhood. Smoker had to still his hand, afraid that he'd come before the fun actually started. Never had he dreamed that a man could pull such lingerie off, but Izo did. And that was still much of an understatement.

Now, not wearing anything else than the panties and his high heels that matched perfectly in color, Izo walked towards his lover and let his foot slide up his leg.

" _You nasty boy."_

As the song ended, he placed the foot next to Smoker on the bed and spoke to him in a deep, seductive tone. "So, how did I do?"

"How… I… Where did you get those?" Smoker managed to bring out, obviously talking about the panties.

Izo smiled mysteriously. "My secret. But you seem to quite like them."

"I-I do." It took Smoker a moment to find his confidence again. Really, Izo was like a god, he was unable to resist. Smoker led his hand slide up his lover's smooth legs, his skin feeling almost like silk beneath his fingers. He soon reached the lacy underwear and touched the bulge it showed, admiring, as if it was something sacred, one shouldn't be allowed to touch.

Izo let out a soft moan at the contact, sending shivers through Smoker's body and making his erection twitch. He needed to hear more of that beautiful sound and started to palm the clothed erection. More moans escaped Izo's throat, making Smoker feel accomplished. Izo was such a tease, the white haired man was glad he could also drive _him_ mad.

"Fuck, Smokey…" Izo moaned. "I want you." He leaned forward, impressing Smoker with the fact that the position of his leg allowed him to do that, and kissed him deeply.

"Hmm, then shouldn't you rid me of my pants?" Smoker said, also more than ready to go further.

"I was just about to do that, don't be so impatient," Izo said, placing his finger on his lover's lips. However, he closed his eyes and bit his lip when Smoker continued to caress his dick.

Fingers pulled at the fabric of Smoker's pants and he lifted his hips to help Izo get the trousers down. His erection brushed against his own hand, and he quickly removed the latter so that their most intimate places could touch, even with the thin layer of Izo's underwear between them. They both moaned quietly at the touch, until the dark haired man had to get off him to remove the pants completely.

When the fabric had slipped off Smoker's feet, Izo crawled back on the bed, between his legs. He playfully let his teeth scrape over the sensitive flesh of his manhood, making Smoker gasp. Izo crawled further, however, and gave him a slow, but passionate kiss. "So are you gonna free me of my underwear as well, or do you want me to keep them on?"

"They _are_ very… pleasing to the eye. But I guess it would indeed be more convenient to take them off," Smoker said as seriously as he was capable of, at that moment. "And I'm sure I'm gonna like what's underneath too."

"I'm sure of that as well," Izo smirked down at him.

Smoker didn't waste any more time and pulled the panties down, making sure to let his nails scrape softly over the other's skin. As soon as the skintight fabric was down his hips, the man's erection sprung free, almost literally hitting Smoker in the face. The white haired man hummed pleased, while he looked at his new discovery. Damn, how could someone be so perfect? There was nothing on Izo that he could describe as less. Even his manhood was perfectly proportioned; not too big, but certainly not too small either.

Smoker moistened his lips and wrapped them around the tip of Izo's cock, while doing his best to push the underwear as far down as possible. Sucking on it, Smoker got nice, quiet moans out of his lover, making him want to tear the fabric apart, just to take it off quicker. But he doubted his neighbor would appreciate that. Smoker released the erection with a wet pop. "I'm gonna need your assistance here."

Izo lifted his knees, on which he had been sitting, so that the panties could get off completely. "Smokey, do you have –"

"Drawer of the nightstand," Smoker grunted and he started to lick and suck his lover's dick, while the other man leaned over to try to get the drawer open, while moaning loudly.

Eventually, Izo succeeded in his task and retrieved a bottle of lube and a condom from the nightstand. He threw the condom on the bed and uncapped the bottle to pour a bit of lube onto his finger. "Would you let me…?"

Smoker was surprised for a bit, since he'd never been in that position before, but then nodded. Izo was going to show his talents, after all, and Smoker didn't doubt it the other could make him feel good. "You _did_ promise to show how skilled you were."

Izo smirked. "I'll make it worth your time." He pushed Smoker's legs apart some more and brought his hand towards his entrance.

The white haired man gasped when he felt the cold finger against his sensitive skin. He may never have been on the receiving end before, but that didn't mean he didn't know how to handle this. He relaxed his body as much as possible while Izo's finger entered him. The process was helped a little when the dark haired man used his other hand to slowly stroke his lover's cock.

Slowly, the sensation of the finger moving in and out of him started to feel pleasurable and Smoker began to pant more and more. Suddenly, Izo slightly curled his finger up, brushing against his prostate and making Smoker moan loudly.

When the white haired man opened his eyes – not even having noticed he'd closed them – he saw his lover smirk smugly. Smoker placed his hand behind the other's head and slammed their lips together, just so that he wouldn't have to look at that self-satisfied look – and maybe a bit because he just yearned for Izo's lips on his.

While the kiss got more hungry and uncontrolled, Izo added a second finger and soon started stretching him, making sure to hit his prostate every now and then. Smoker couldn't help but moan into his lover's mouth, even though he tried to keep his voice down.

"Fuck, Izo," Smoker moaned and slightly arched his back as a third finger was added. The dark haired man let out a pleasured sigh at the hearing of his name.

After a few more moments of stretching, Izo withdrew his fingers, leaving Smoker with a feeling of emptiness. The actor picked up the small package he had thrown on the bed earlier and – still stroking Smoker's cock with one hand – carefully tore apart the wrapping of the condom with his teeth.

Smoker grabbed the hand, holding the rubber. "Let me help you with that," he said with husky voice as he retrieved the condom from his lover's hand. It was too bad their positions now made it impossible to use his mouth for this, but his hands would do fine too. Holding the tip with one hand, he used the other to roll the condom down Izo's shaft.

Meanwhile, the dark haired man had managed to uncap the bottle of lube with his free hand and poured a bit on his rock hard member. Since Smoker's hand was still there, he began to stroke his lover's cock to spread the slick substance and Izo moaned softly.

Soon, Smoker withdrew his hand and Izo saw that as a sign to position himself at his entrance, holding his hips with both hands. The white haired man forced himself to keep his eyes open as the other slowly pushed inside, even if that wasn't an easy thing to do. But it was worth it so much. The sight of Izo, arching his back and throwing his head back, letting his long hair fall from his shoulders like some sort of waterfall, was the most beautiful thing Smoker had ever seen. It effectively distracted him from the slight pain he felt when the other entered him.

"F-fuck, Smokey…" Izo whimpered. "You're so damn tight." Suddenly, his head snapped back up and a smirk appeared on his lips. "Don't tell me, you're a virgin…"

Smoker frowned as he slowly got accustomed to the feeling of being completely filled. "Of course not."

"Yes, you are," Izo said on a teasing tone, while he slowly pulled out again. "You are a bottom-virgin."

"I am n- ahhh," Smoker moaned loudly when Izo slammed back into him.

Izo closed his eyes and chuckled. "I feel honored," he said and set an easy rhythm, which began to drive Smoker slowly mad. Especially when Izo started to stroke his cock again in time with the thrusts.

Moans and pants soon began to fill the room as their pace became faster and rougher, both of them losing their mind and not having any control anymore over what they were saying or what kind of noise they were making. Especially not Smoker, as Izo kept hitting that spot inside him that made him feel like he was in a completely different place than earth.

_Fuuuck_ , he didn't regret his choice of letting Izo top one bit. Just when he thought things in the line of _harder_ or _faster_ , Izo did exactly that. It didn't take long before Smoker felt he was getting close to losing it completely.

"Fuck, ahh, I-Izo," Smoker moaned. "I'm – ahhh."

His lover immediately pulled his hand back from the cock it had been stroking. "Not… yet," he said with closed eyes, panting heavily. "Let's… come… ohh, together."

However, Izo didn't stop hitting that sweet spot inside him and, even though the double stimulation was gone now, that was still enough to bring him closer to his inevitable orgasm. When Izo decided, a few moments later, that it was time to place his hand back on Smoker's member again, it took the white haired man only two strokes to spill his semen all over his own chest and his neighbor's hand.

Izo moaned loudly as he came a few seconds later. He rested his forehead on Smoker's chest for a moment, regaining his breath. Smoker stroke away a lock of black hair to save it from getting in contact with the semen on his body, but he saw that it was already too late. Well, that could be washed away later.

Smoker sighed and smiled content. "Well, you've proven your point."

A chuckle made his heart speed up a little more. "I thought so." Izo pulled out and sat up, carefully removing the condom. Meanwhile, Smoker used the time to lay on the bed in the way it was meant, instead of diagonally.

Izo lay next to him, getting back some energy. "So, was I right? Was this your first time bottoming?"

Smoker huffed and reached out for his pack of cigars, that should be somewhere on his nightstand. "Maybe." He wasn't ready to fully admit it, even though it was pretty clear his neighbor was right. He finally found what he was looking for and put a cigar into his mouth, lighting it immediately.

"You smoke inside your bedroom?" Izo asked, obviously a bit displeased about that fact.

"Sometimes," Smoker answered as he took a deep drag, letting the smoke fill his lungs.

"Oh, come on." Izo took the cigar from his mouth. "Not when I'm here." He kissed the other's lips.

Smoker grunted. "Give that back."

The actor gave him a disappointed look but then sighed. "Well, fine, I need to go anyway."

"What?" Smoker frowned. "Why?"

"Well… I gotta go back to my own home, I need to be rested for work again, tomorrow." Izo sat up.

"That's no reason to leave." Smoker wrapped his arm around the other's waist, preventing him from leaving. "Please, stay tonight. Your home is only twenty seconds away. Besides, your performance tomorrow is at three, right? So you don't even have to get up that early."

Izo looked conflicted for a moment. He stared at the window, as if that would give him all the answers in life. Then he sighed. "Alright, but on one condition."

Smoker smiled. "Sure, tell me."

"It's me or the cigar. If I stay, that thing's gotta go."

Smoker looked at the cigar that was just back in his hand. He took one more deep drag of it, before putting it out in the ashtray that was also on the nightstand. "Fine. Now come back here." He lifted the sheets so that his lover could get underneath them as well.

Izo chuckled as he snuggled against Smoker's warm body. "You could just tell me you were afraid to sleep alone."

Smoker raised his eyebrows, trying not to think of how much truth there was in that. "Shut up, I'm not afraid to sleep alone. Though I do sleep better when I have company. Because it's nice and warm."

Izo snorted. "Suuure. Don't worry, I know better."

"I'm not keeping you here because I'm scared." Smoker let his hand wander over his lover's chest, 'accidentally' playing with his nipple. "I want you to stay, because _you_ might have showed all _your_ talents, but-"

"Oh, not nearly _all_ ," Izo interrupted him.

Smoker continued as if he hadn't just said that. "But _I_ still have to show _mine_."

* * *

It was a few hours later when Smoker woke up. The second round sure had been exhausting and he had fallen asleep almost immediately afterwards.

However, when he opened his eyes, it was still dark and he knew something wasn't right. Not because of the fact that it wasn't morning yet, but because of the tightening feeling in his chest. The feeling that he had to watch out for something. That something was lurking around in his room.

Well damn. So the shadow person had come after all? Even though Smoker had company?

When he looked beside him, his heart skipped a beat. Izo wasn't there. His neighbor was not in his bed anymore. _Oh shit,_ where was he? Where was Izo?

Smoker sat up and looked around, panicking. Had the shadow person gotten Izo? Or had Izo fled the room because he was scared by it?

Smoker tried to take a deep breath, but it was hard not to start hyperventilating. Eventually, he got his breath under control and cleared his throat. "What did you do to my neighbor? Where is he?"

Of course, he didn't get an answer. Smoker tried to think realistic about it. Maybe Izo had gotten thirsty or had needed to pee. Yeah, that could be. Maybe…

His eyes fell shut and he had to try really hard to get and keep them open again. Maybe he should get out of bed… He yawned. He should look around to see… if Izo… was walking… around…

He saw a dark shadow looming over him, right before his eyes fell shut again, too tired to keep them open anymore.

* * *

His eyes flew open, his heart racing. Smoker had to shield his eyes against the light that seeped through his curtains. What the hell had happened tonight? He had want to check whether Izo was still somewhere in his apartment, but somehow he had been so tired he had fallen asleep? That never happened before, on the contrary. Most of the time he was too afraid, or panicking that he couldn't sleep at all. So why hadn't that been the case now? It was almost as if the shadow person had forced him back to sleep. And it hadn't been a pleasant sleep, but one filled with terrible dreams.

Izo. Smoker quickly turned around in bed and let out a relieved sigh as his neighbor sleepily opened his eyes.

Izo smiled. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"Hmm, okay, I guess." To be honest, Smoker still felt exhausted, even if he'd slept more than on his usual nights. He was just so glad his lover was okay, at this moment.

"Are you alright?" Izo asked him. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I, eh… I was just a little worried. Where were you tonight?" Smoker asked.

The dark haired man next to him laughed confused. "What do you mean? I was right here."

"No, tonight, I woke up for a moment and you weren't here," Smoker clarified.

"Oh…" Izo shrugged. "That must have been when I went to the bathroom for a moment." He smiled. "That got you worried?"

Smoker shook his head. "Nah, it was just… I felt like there was something, or _someone,_ sneaking around in the house, but… you didn't see anything, did you?"

Izo smirked. "No, I didn't see anything. But if you were that bad with horror movies, you should have just said so."

The white haired man grunted. "It's got nothing to do with the movie, we didn't even see it through to the end." He wrapped his arms around the other, just glad Izo was fine and hadn't noticed anything of the shadow person.

"Alright, if you say so." Izo moved a bit and softly started to kiss Smoker's neck. "What's the time?"

Smoker didn't want to turn his head towards the clock, he just wanted to enjoy the sensation of Izo's lips on his skin. However, since Izo would probably stop if he didn't get an answer, he cast a look at the time, while trying to move his head as less as possible, so he wouldn't get in the way of what Izo was doing. He was surprised to see it was already so late. "It's almost eleven."

Izo groaned while he let his teeth gaze over the skin on his lover's neck. "That means I gotta go soon. I need to be at the theater at one o'clock."

Smoker had a hard time letting Izo go, as he would rather spend the whole day in bed with him, but eventually, Izo walked out of the room. As the man walked towards the shower, Smoker couldn't stop the butterflies from fluttering around in his chest. _Damn_ , he was so lucky.

* * *

That Sunday passed relatively quickly. Smoker's mood had been unbreakable the whole day and he had been more energetic than ever. He'd gone to the gym as well, since it was about time he went there again. He had to keep his body in shape, after all.

That evening, a few hours before the sun would set, he decided to set up the crystals. Tonight was the night. Hopefully, he would catch the creature and be released from it forever. He couldn't wait to just sleep long and peacefully again. And not having to worry when he had company at night.

Sitting on the corner of his bed, the box with crystals beside him, he looked around. What would be the best spot to place them? Well, not immediately behind the door of course, since one couldn't open it then, without braking the 'cage' the crystals were supposed to form. It would be difficult for Madam Shyarly to enter the room then. Maybe the corners of the room weren't the best choice either, just because there was a chance the shadow person wouldn't even come there.

Eventually, he decided to place them near the door, but far enough to open it. After he'd placed them, he drew a pentagram between them in his mind, adjusted them a bit until he was happy with them. It probably didn't came to an inch, right? The crystals formed a pentagon with a wide of about four or five feet, which should be wide enough to capture the bastard. He wasn't sure if the energetic fields would connect if he placed them much further apart.

One of the crystals was hidden under his closet, but the other four needed to be covered up. Well, if he'd just dropped his clothes a little messy, it should be possible to hide them. That did mean he had to go to bed before it was completely dark, or there would be a chance the shadow person was already hiding somewhere.

So when the sun was standing low on the horizon, Smoker slipped into his bed, being sure he hid the crystals well enough. He closed his eyes and waited. Of course, the creature didn't have to show up immediately, but Smoker could better pretend to be asleep, to not raise any suspicion.

* * *

It was completely dark when he woke up again. Apparently, he had fallen asleep for real. Still, he didn't open his eyes yet, trying to fool the shadow person a bit longer. Because Smoker felt it was here already.

His heartbeat sped up a little, when he felt something touch his cheek, something that felt a lot like a human hand. He pretended to sleepily bat it away from his face, hoping the shadow person would move more towards the door. Of course, he didn't feel more than a light breeze when his hand brushed over his cheek.

Smoker waited a little, concentrated on listening if he heard something. He almost got a heart attack when he heard a pained scream.

He carefully opened his eyes, looking directly towards the spot where he'd placed the crystals. A victorious smirk crept up his face when he saw a thin light, which was very likely the energetic shield that had pulled up and trapped the shadow person. However, at first, Smoker didn't see anything trapped inside. Until the creature tried to get out and seemed to burn themselves on the cage, making them hiss. The place where it made contact with the shield lit up a little more and finally Smoker saw a just a bit darker shade of black inside the cage.

He lit the light on his bedside, but it didn't make that much of a difference. He still couldn't make out more than a faint shadow, which he wouldn't even have noticed a few weeks ago. He sat up a little and crossed his arms. "Didn't see that coming, huh?" Smoker had to admit to himself that he was pretty pleased to have finally caught a bad-guy, and a supernatural one at that.

He didn't get an answer, but instead the creature did another attempt on escaping, which failed as well. "Yeah, I got some tips from an expert," Smoker told them. "You have no chance of escaping this. She will come here in the morning, when I call her, and you'll be done for, forever."

It was silent some more, this time there wasn't even the burning sound that came with an attempt to escape. "You know, I know exactly what you are. Yes, I admit I was wrong before, but now I know that you are a shadow person." Smoker kept talking. "Now, the only question left, is… _who_ are you? Though, I have a fairly good idea."

"You do?" It sounded more like a whisper, or even the rustling of the wind, but Smoker had clearly heard the words.

"Oh, so you can talk like this? More or less." Smoker huffed. "Well, yeah, after I learned more about you, I immediately knew how you could have escaped from that police cell a while back. And that you scared that poor witness."

It was silent for a while, but then there came a response, again sounding like not much more than a whisper. "You're wrong."

Smoker rolled his eyes. "Yeah, of course." Wasn't that what Portgas had been saying all along? "Well, we'll just see about that in the morning, wont we?"

He turned off the light again, convinced that he wouldn't get any wiser when it came to the creature's identity now, anyway. The morning light would reveal who he really was. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some sleep to catch up."

* * *

When Smoker woke up that morning, he was more rested than he'd ever been in the past few weeks. He enjoyed the feeling a bit more, laying with his eyes closed, resisting the urge to immediately check who it was that he had caught.

He threw his legs over the edge of his bed and only opened his eyes when he stood up. He looked at the spot where he had placed the crystals and blinked. After he was sure he was not dreaming anymore, his heart stopped beating. It just stopped. And his eyes widened in shock.

The man – because it was a man, of that he was sure now – sat on his floor in almost meditative pose, keeping his eyes shut and his breath regulated. Long black hair framed his all too familiar face and covered his shoulders. That hair was way longer than Ace's.

It took Smoker a while before he could say anything. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

The man on his floor raised his eyelids and looked up with brown eyes full of guilt. "Smokey…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Be Continued~


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... it's almost Christmas and guess who's finished her Halloween fic XD
> 
> Anyway, it's gotten a little long, so I decided to break it up into two chapters after all. So there will be one more after this one (it will be uploaded tomorrow), but that will really be the last.
> 
> Enjoy~!

**Chapter 8**

"Smokey…" Izo said pleading, still not being able to move from the spot that had been marked by the crystals on the floor.

Smoker stared at him for a few moments more, not able to say anything. He gritted his teeth together as anger built inside him. Without a word, he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

_What the fuck?!_ Smoker paced up and down his living room. _Izo_ was the shadow person?! The one that had kept him from sleeping properly? He had even asked if Smoker had slept well, the other night! Izo had damn well known how he had slept!

The police officer sat down on his couch, with his hands in his hair, thinking about this whole situation for a while.

How could he have been so stupid? When looking back, the clues were obvious! Izo had somehow managed to get into his apartment without forcing the door open, he had made sure the two of them hadn't been together after sunset, except for yesterday and that one night Smoker had burnt his food. When the white haired man looked back, he did notice Izo had been hiding mostly in the shadows that time too. And last but not least, the previous night, when the shadow person had come to him, Izo had disappeared.

Smoker sighed. And he just bought all his lies without thinking twice about it. What a cop he was.

That thought made him look at the clock. Shit, he had only twenty more minutes to get to the station. And his clothes were still inside his bedroom.

Not wasting any more time, he walked back into his bedroom, straight towards his closet and completely ignoring Izo.

"Smokey, what are you going to do?" The dark haired man asked him.

Smoker continued to get the clothes he needed, pretending he hadn't heard his neighbor.

"Smoker, just let me explain. Please?"

The white haired man had grabbed his things and started to walk to the door again.

"Wait!" The burning sound made Smoker cast a look at the energy field that kept Izo trapped and saw the man pulling back his hand with a painful face. "You aren't going to call that woman you spoke off, are you? You aren't going to kill me… right?"

Smoker stopped in his tracks and send his supposed lover an angry stare. "I'm going to work now. When I come back, I'll see about what to do with you."

* * *

He roughly sat down and stared angrily at his computer screen for a while. He was just so mad at Izo! He had lied to his face without so much as blinking. He had tricked him into thinking his neighbor was a nice and loving person while he actually was a dark creature who feasted on his fear.

Smoker closed his eyes. _Oh my god, the horror movie._ He had to resist the urge to throw his head against his computer screen, breaking probably both. How could he have been so fucking stupid not to see it was Izo?

"Are you… alright?" Tashigi asked carefully after a while of probably studying her partner.

Smoker slammed his fists down on his desk. "Yes. I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine to me…" she continued, looking almost afraid of him. "Does it have something to do with your sleeping problem?"

"No. I said I was fine." He took a deep breath to calm himself a bit.

"With your neighbor maybe?"

Smoker looked at her, using all his willpower to remain calm. "Look, it's none of your business, okay?"

"Okay…" His colleague returned her gaze to her computer screen. "Just so you know, if you _want_ to talk about it, I'm here for you."

"Thanks. I'm gonna take a smoke break." He stood up and went outside.

During the day, Smoker's anger slowly started to seep away a little. Instead, another feeling made way to his heart. Hurt. He felt hurt and betrayed. He liked Izo, _really_ liked him. Smoker couldn't remember ever falling so hard for someone before. But now his neighbor was not what he'd thought he was, not even human!

Smoker stopped in his thought. He'd had sex with something that wasn't human.

The police officer shook his head to get rid of that ridiculous thought. It wasn't like Izo was an alien or anything. He looked human, and was more or less human, at least during the day. Smoker didn't understand it though, even if being a shadow person was Izo's nature, why had he come to haunt _him_ every night? If he'd liked Smoker, he wouldn't want to scare him or even bring harm to him, would he? Madam Shyarly had said that he could eventually die if the shadow person kept bothering him, so would Izo really have killed him?

Smoker just couldn't understand it. Was Izo really such a good actor that he'd fooled him into thinking the dark haired man liked Smoker too? The white haired man just couldn't believe that and didn't want to believe that. Even now that he knew what Izo was, he still couldn't help the butterflies that fluttered around in his chest whenever he thought of the man. Even though he was still angry at him. And he wasn't even angry for what he was, but mainly because of what he had done.

Smoker grunted, conflicted. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He had agreed to call Shyarly as soon as he'd captured the creature, so she could vanquish it. Which meant she would kill it. Smoker wasn't sure that was still what he wanted. But he couldn't just let Izo continue like this either.

It was a quarter to five when Smoker decided to call it a day. "I'm going home," he let Tashigi know. He ignored how she looked at the clock, but was glad she didn't commented on it. On his way home, he made the decision to first talk with Izo, before doing anything drastic.

He was about to turn the key in the lock of his front door, when the door next to him opened. Izo's door. Smoker stared at it as it opened further and Marco and Ace stepped out of the apartment. He just stared at the duo for a moment, letting his brains do the work. He eyed the tattoo on the blond's half uncovered chest and immediately made the connection. It was the same tattoo Izo had on his upper arm.

Ace stepped into his personal space and stared angrily at him. "Where's Izo? What did you do to him?"

They were all in it. The tattoo was a 'family' crest. Except family didn't mean they were siblings, it meant they were all the same kind of creature. So Smoker had been partly right about Portgas after all. He gave the raven head an unimpressed look. "I don't know where Izo is. Isn't he working?"

"It's freaking Monday. There's no show on Monday," Ace said in a tone that said he didn't accept any fooling around. "You should at least know that, when you're fucking him."

Smoker looked at him without saying anything, wondering if Izo had told _everything_ to his brothers. He tried to stare long enough at Ace so that he would step back, but the younger man only did that when Marco placed a hand on his shoulder.

The blond looked at Smoker. "We're just a little worried. We haven't seen him all day and night."

Smoker raised his eyebrows as the man had just confirmed his suspicion. "What, you check up on him twenty-four seven? Are you some sort of night creature?"

The couple stared intensely at Smoker, probably trying to figure out whether he was joking or if it was a serious question. The police officer decided that was a good moment to end the conversation and enter his apartment. "It isn't that weird if you don't see him for a day."

Smoker closed the door behind him, but kept listening for a bit more, immediately hearing what he was waiting for.

"Do you think he knows?" Portgas' voice sounded. "He sounded pretty serious."

"Let's hope not," Marco answered. "But I'm afraid he does. Which can't be good for Izo." Apparently, the duo walked away then, because Smoker couldn't hear their voices anymore.

He sighed. He had enough trouble with the one shadow person in his bedroom already, he didn't need two more after him. Well, better sort this problem out fast then.

Smoker opened his bedroom door and walked in, immediately checking whether Izo was still there. His neighbor hadn't moved and sighed relieved when Smoker entered the room. The white haired man sat down on his bed, with his arms crossed and looking directly at Izo. "You said I should give you a chance to explain, so explain yourself."

Izo nodded slowly. "I'm sorry for what I did to you. I really am. And to be honest, I don't really have a good reason for why I did it, other than that it's in my nature. And I know it's probably not what you want to hear, but I would like to explain that nature to you."

Smoker waited patiently for the other man to continue. To be honest, he didn't even know what it was that he wanted to hear. Just the truth, he guessed.

When Izo didn't get a reaction after a while, he just continued. "You said you knew I was a shadow person. Do you know what it is we feed on?"

Smoker's scowl got a little deeper as he remembered the horror movie again. He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid as to fall for that. "Fear," he answered, trying to push his embarrassment aside, since he still didn't want to admit to Izo that he'd been afraid, even though the creature knew better.

"Exactly." Izo stared at the floor. "At first, I came to you because I just found you interesting. And normally, I don't visit the same person every night again. It's not my goal to kill anyone, you know. It's just, most people are easily scared and when I've come to them for one night, I've had enough of them for a while and go to someone else. It's like you don't eat the same dish every night." Izo looked up again.

"But you, you were different. You are strong and practically fearless. Which I like during the day," the corners or Izo's mouth curled up the slightest bit, "and during the evening, as a quality in a lover. But at night… it got addicting. It's like finding this one dish that's so good, you want to eat it every night again. Or maybe like chocolate… when it's within reach, you cannot _not_ eat it. You're not going for anything less when you've got access to the best, even though you know it might be better to go for something less. And believe me, the fear of a person who's never afraid… it's the jackpot."

"Yeah, you were right, I don't want to hear you talking about me in the way of food," Smoker interrupted him.

"You're not just food! You're way more than that." Izo rubbed his temples. "I mean, you're not food at all. Your fear might be, for me, but I can't help that, that's just how we were designed. I'm just trying to explain how it works. But that's got nothing to do with what I feel for you. Well, maybe a little, since that was just another reason to want to see you."

"And maybe another reason to _not_ bother me at night?" Smoker opted.

Izo sighed miserably. "You have no idea how guilty I felt every morning. And yet, the next night, I couldn't help but be drawn to you again."

"You're right, I had no idea. You must be a damn good actor." Smoker was still angry, but at the same time, he started to feel sorry for Izo. Which he really didn't want, because he was angry at him. Angry for lying, betraying and hurting him.

However, at this moment Izo wore a look on his face that Smoker could only describe as honest guilt. "I am _really_ sorry. But I do like you. I mean, _really_ like you, maybe even –"

"I _don't_ want to hear it." Smoker held up a hand to emphasize his words. It was funny, really, how the butterflies still fluttered inside his chest, while at the same time it felt like his heart was being stabbed again and again. Couldn't the butterflies be stabbed instead?

"I completely understand if you hate me. But I can't do anything but say that I'm honestly sorry that I'm like this. It's my nature and I can't help it that I need fear to survive." Izo looked like he'd just given up.

"You can't help it that you're a creature of darkness," Smoker started, but before he could go on, Izo interrupted him.

"Darkness is…" Izo seemed to think of something, "an oddly fitting word. But we're not evil. Evil is only decided by the decisions you make, not by what you are."

"We might have a different perception of what is a good decision then," Smoker commented. "Because to me it looks like you've made the wrong one."

It was quiet for a moment before Izo spoke again. "Yeah, you're right." He shrugged. "Even though it was very hard for me, it shouldn't have been impossible to stay away from you during the night. I can't change it anymore, though. I can only do better in the future." Izo looked Smoker in the eyes. "If I still have a future."

Smoker frowned. "Why would you be able to do differently in the future, if you weren't able to it in the past?"

"The situation has changed," Izo answered simply. "You know who I am now and I've gotten a pretty cold shower to wake me up."

Smoker shook his head. "Why should I trust you now?"

"Because… I don't know. I could tell you that I'm genuine, but you'd have to trust that as well, so… yeah, you don't really have any reason to believe me." Izo still didn't look away from him. "Just trust your instincts."

Smoker kept staring at is neighbor, thinking of what his instincts were actually trying to tell him. After a while, he stood up and thought some more, before he made his decision. With his right foot he shove aside one of the crystals, braking the pentagram, and with it the cage.

Izo looked surprised at him, a faint smile on his lips. "You're letting me go?"

"It seems like it, doesn't it?" Smoker said gruffly. "It's not like I can keep you for much longer anyway, because if I do, your brothers will come tonight and will probably free you. And I've got enough on one of you in my apartment already."

"You could have killed me," Izo said as he carefully stepped out of the place that was marked by the crystals.

Smoker looked at his neighbor, not sure what he should be feeling, but being pretty sure it shouldn't be the feeling of longing to held Izo in his arms. "I'm not a murderer."

"I know, but… technically I'm not human, so it wouldn't be murder?" Izo stepped closer to Smoker. "But thank you." He closed his eyes and leaned in, softly letting his lips touch Smoker's.

The white haired man didn't do anything for a few seconds, just let the kiss happen, before he pushed Izo away. "Don't do this. I don't want to see you anymore. Not during the day and especially not during the night."

Izo's mouth curled up the slightest bit. "I thought you rather liked having me at night."

Smoker stared at him, not in the mood for stupid jokes and innuendos.

Izo averted his eyes. "I'm sorry. I won't bother you anymore." He walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him and leaving Smoker alone with his conflicting feelings and a shattered heart.

* * *

The nights that followed, Smoker got a lot more sleep. Even though he still lay awake quite a lot, thinking things over and over, Izo _had_ kept his promise and had not visited him anymore. Neither had his brothers, to Smoker's relief. It even went so far as that Izo seemed to be avoiding his neighbor. One time, Smoker had seen him standing on the balustrade in front of their apartments, when he himself had just parked his car, but when Smoker had reached their floor, Izo had disappeared.

There were times when Smoker doubted his decision, though. Hadn't he been a little too harsh on Izo? Sure, the man had made a mistake, had haunted him and lied to him. But on the other hand, could he have helped it that much? Izo couldn't help it that he was a shadow person and it wasn't that surprising that he had want to keep that a secret and so, lied about things to hide it.

Other times however, he was really doubting that shadow people were not evil by nature. Smoker wondered if there were even things they could do that could be classified as 'good', while being the creature that they were. They fed on fear, after all, and that was not a good thing. And apparently, they didn't have as much control over it as they'd like either. So, maybe the best option _would_ have been to vanquish them? Still, that idea didn't feel right. They were too human to just get rid of them.

Thoughts like these were driving Smoker mad, at times and he had often found himself in front of Izo's door, just wanting to see the man, but eventually, he never rang the bell.

Soon, the day came for Portgas' trial, however, and Smoker focused his thoughts more on that. It didn't sit well with Smoker. He was sure Ace had something up his sleeve and, being a shadow person, he would probably not stay in jail, even if he was sentenced to it. Smoker didn't really feel like going to the courthouse for this, but since he and Tashigi were the officers on the case, they were expected to show up.

As Smoker waited, he saw Ace walk in, followed by Marco and Izo. Portgas smirked smugly at him, before he took place in his seat and Smoker noted that he didn't have a lawyer with him. He probably didn't think it was necessary. Behind the arsonist, Izo looked shortly at Smoker and smiled, though the look on his face was still a bit sad.

"Wait," Tashigi whispered next to Smoker. "Isn't that..?"

"Yeah, didn't I tell you they were brothers?" Smoker answered before she could finish her sentence. "But we aren't dating anymore, don't worry."

"So what happened?"

"That's none of your concern." Smoker was relieved when the judge entered and the trial began. Talking to Tashigi about his problems with Izo was not on top of his list of favorite things to do at the moment.

The next half hour or so went as Smoker expected. The two remaining witnesses had claimed they weren't sure anymore and one even said she thought she might have been wrong the first time, when pointing to Ace. Portgas had probably paid them a visit to scare them as well. All in all, even if the investigation had pointed out that it had surely been arson, it seemed like there was little proof that Portgas was really the one to start it. The judges would go in debate, and the trial would be suspended for at least half an hour.

Smoker went outside to smoke and tried to clear his mind. There was nothing he could do anymore to get that damn brat behind bars. And even if he could, he would be gone the next morning anyway. See? This was what you got with shadow people. They only used their abilities to defy the law.

Smoker was awoken from his thoughts by a cough behind him. He turned around, but as soon as he saw who was standing there, he returned his gaze to what was in front of him. Speaking of shadow people…

"Can we talk?" Izo asked him.

Smoker shrugged. There wasn't really much that he wanted to say, but if Izo wanted to talk… he didn't mind.

"I had to tell my brothers everything, you know, about why I was gone that night and day," Izo started as he came to stand next to his neighbor.

Smoker nodded slowly. "I'm surprised they haven't killed me yet. Especially Ace, since he'd promised to do that if I hurt you."

"He did?" Izo said surprised. He chuckled. "He's so cute. But this thing was all my fault, so… no need to get aggressive towards you. However…" Izo paused for a moment. "They do see you as a threat. See, you know our secret now and they don't trust you with it."

"So you're here to get rid of me?" Smoker asked with raised eyebrows.

"Don't be silly, I still like you," Izo said. "I wouldn't want to see anything bad happen to you. But it's kinda hard to convince the others that you can be trusted. Because you wouldn't tell anyone… would you?"

"That's an interesting assumption you're making there." Smoker crossed his arms. "I haven't told anyone yet. Well, I had to explain to the person who gave me the crystals why I hadn't called her when I caught you."

"What did you tell her?" Izo asked a little cautious.

Smoker shrugged. "The truth. More or less."

"And she just accepted that?"

"Well, she said she helped clients, but if they didn't want to be helped, it wasn't her place to do anything about it." Smoker _had_ paid Shyarly for her efforts, however. That had seemed only fair.

Izo sighed. "Since I think this problem won't easily be solved, we're moving. My brothers and I are moving to Logue Town. As long as I'm working there at least. After that, we probably move on. It's to make the situation easier, you know, not having to meet each other all the time. Especially for my brothers."

"You… don't have to…" Smoker was a little surprised by it and not pleasantly so. That he broke up with Izo didn't mean he was ready to completely let him go. "Yeah, that's probably for the best," he said, because there was no way he was gonna let Izo know that. "Unless Ace has to go to jail."

Izo tilted his head a little. "He won't, you know that."

"We'll see about that," Smoker said.

"There is one more thing, though…" Izo reached into his purse and Smoker couldn't help but smile for a second because of the little feminine detail. The bag just screamed 'Izo'.

The black haired man had found what he was looking for and pulled out a tiny bottle. "I would like you to have this, for if you ever change your mind and want to be with me after all."

Smoker eyed the bottle suspiciously. "What is it? Some magical potion that brings you to me in an instant?"

"Not quite." Izo looked him in the eyes. "Though that would be kinda fun. No, when you drink this… it will turn you into one of us."

Smoker raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, no way. You can keep that. I _like_ to be human."

Izo smiled. "I understand that. But… don't you want to have the choice? One day you're gonna miss me and wish you could be with me again and… well, this would make it a lot easier. It isn't bad to be a shadow person, you know, it has a lot of advantages."

"Like hell I'm gonna miss you." Smoker turned his head away from the other man, because he knew he wasn't the best at lying.

"Oh, I know you're not over me yet." Izo let his nails run over Smoker's cheek. "I get that you're not ready, but when the time comes that you are… just take it in case that moment comes."

"It won't." Smoker pushed his neighbor's hand away and looked right into Izo's eyes. He cursed inside his mind because his heart started to beat faster again, reviving feelings he was trying to get rid of. "Take it with you and leave, please."

Izo sighed and put the small bottle back into his purse. "Alright. If that's really what you want." He turned around to go back inside, but stopped before actually having set a step. "How did you sleep?"

Smoker put out his cigar. "Great."

Izo smiled. "That's good to hear," he said and then walked into the building for real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Be Continued~!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the final chapter is here~! I hope you all liked this story. At least it really brightened my day when I got a review for this story. Since the unusual pairing, I hadn't expected so many people to like it! :D Please, whether you did it before or not, leave a review after this saying what you thought of this chapter/story! :D (constructive criticism is always welcome as well).
> 
> Thanks again to the lovely Stirlingphoenix, who organized the ophalloweenficproject on tumblr, because without it, I would never have written this! And thanks again to Aerle, who is my faithful beta and my best friend who I love very much and I know this story might have been a bit difficult for her sometimes, because it's not her ship and she's very monogamous when it comes to her ships :P So thank you for doing this anyway~!
> 
> Enjoy the last chapter!

It came to no one's surprise that Ace was cleared from charge, but it still made the two cops angry. Especially Tashigi, who had no idea what the real situation was. Smoker slowly came to terms with the fact that he couldn't do anything about it. Now that he understood everything, that was a bit easier.

Through the week, Smoker thought a lot about what Izo had said. Smoker still felt the same about wanting to stay human. Like hell he was going to turn into some night creature that only could do bad things, things to destroy people's lives or at least their night rest. Not to mention getting away with going against the law. Not that Smoker would do that even if he _were_ a shadow person, but still, you never knew; it could be in their nature.

No, only bad things could come from that, but Smoker couldn't brush it aside so easily. What if that was the only way to see Izo again? Maybe he should have taken the potion just in case…

This feeling was only intensified when a few days later, he saw Izo and his brothers move out. Smoker felt a little guilty, as it seemed he was the reason for their moving. But then again, they probably never stayed at one place for very long. Smoker couldn't even imagine how old they were, because… did they even age?

Smoker watched them load their stuff into a truck from behind his window. It really didn't feel right to let Izo go like this, but what choice did he have? Even if Smoker was ready to forgive him at some point in time, how could he ever have a normal relationship with him again without having to become one of those creatures himself? Smoker didn't think it was possible. He wouldn't be able to trust Izo and probably for good reasons. Izo now kept away from him at night, but if they would sleep together again that would probably change. Since Izo apparently didn't sleep at all.

Smoker sighed and turned away from his window. He should probably just forget about this whole thing, about Izo. That would be best.

* * *

It was about a week later and already dark when Smoker drove home after having worked late. Work was a nice distraction, but in the evening, he still hadn't succeeded in forgetting Izo and the whole shadow person thing. Apparently, it hadn't been as easy as he'd hoped. Well, if he were honest with himself, he'd known it wouldn't be easy, but he could still hope.

Suddenly, his radio cracked. "Smoker, are you home already?" Hina's voice sounded. "There's been a robbery only a few blocks from where you live and you're the only one in the neighborhood."

Smoker immediately grabbed the microphone. If duty called, he was not the one to let it down. "I'm on my way, where is it?"

Hina gave him directions and it appeared to be almost directly on his route. "There's three armed people, one woman and two men, so don't do anything reckless," she warned him. "It'd be better to just follow them and wait for reinforcement. Hina will send them after you right away."

"Got it." Smoker neared the shop that had been robbed and just saw a black car driving away from there with more speed than was necessary for normal customers. "I've got a suspicious car in sight and there are no other suspects to see, I'm gonna follow it."

Smoker had to drive faster than the speed limit allowed to keep up with the car, which was not very practical, since he didn't want them to notice him and therefore, couldn't use his sirens and flashing lights. They drove up to the motorway and headed north. It was only after about fifteen miles that they started to slow down, apparently convinced that they weren't followed.

"Alright," Smoker spoke through the radio. "They've lessened their speed, we're nearing Logue Town now, so I assume that's where they're going."

"Alright, there's backup about three miles behind you," he got as an answer.

"The safest thing to do seems to follow them until they're somewhere that isn't crowded and then take them in," Smoker suggested.

"Yes, give a sign to the other cars whenever you think is the best time."

"Sure." Smoker pressed the button that made contact with all the cars within a five mile radius and explained the plan to the two cars that were somewhere behind him. It didn't take long before the car that he was chasing drove off the motorway, towards the south of Logue Town, just as Smoker had expected.

However, when Smoker followed them, they sped up again. Crap, apparently they were on to him. That didn't mean he could just give up on the plan though, and he kept following them as secretly as possible. But when they were on an almost empty road, it didn't have much purpose anymore.

"They're headed towards the soccer stadium, but I think they're on to me."

"We'll try to be there as soon as possible."

And indeed, the black car drove up to the parking lot that was between the stadium and the cinema. Smoker quickly followed and jumped out of his car before it was even standing still properly, gun pointed at the other car, where the three suspects jumped out of as well.

"Stop right there!" Smoker yelled at them, but the red haired woman had already drawn her own gun and pointed it at him, while the two men grabbed their weapons as well. Smoker couldn't see them clearly, as they were wearing hoodies, but one looked Asian and the other had a bit of blond hair peeking out from under his hood, covering one of his eyes.

The woman laughed. "You're alone?"

"My colleagues will be here any moment," Smoker warned them. "Drop your weapons!"

Unfortunately he focused mainly on the woman, who was standing closest to him, while the Asian looking man had sped towards him so fast Smoker had barely seen him. The criminal grabbed his wrist and turned it in such a way that Smoker was forced to drop his gun, before he could use it to shoot, while the man pressed a dagger against his throat. "No need to wait for them, don't you think?" he spoke with a deep voice.

Smoker cursed because he'd been such an easy target, but had to admit the man was incredibly strong. He didn't think it was a good idea to answer him immediately, however, since the dagger – if it was not a short sword – seemed pretty sharp. Instead, he thought carefully of what he would say next, because he had to keep them here until the others arrived.

"You're right, no need to wait for _them_ ," a third, breezy voice said, seeming to come from right behind Smoker's attacker. But there was no one to be seen.

Smoker's eyes widened, just as the eyes of the Asian man, however, for different reasons. The man holding the dagger shifted his eyes, as if he was looking for who the hell had spoken to him from so close and the hand holding the weapon against the policeman's throat started to shake slightly.

A scream came from the woman as she suddenly dropped her gun and seemed to struggle against some invisible force. "Take it easy, missy," another voice known to Smoker said. "Wow, she's actually pretty hot."

"Get your dirty hands off of her, you piece of shit!" The blond criminal yelled, but he too seemed to be unable to move away.

The voice closest to Smoker chuckled. "Ace, you're gay."

"So? I'm not blind!"

Smoker saw a shadow creep up his assaulter's throat and the voice focused on the Asian man again. "You'd better take that knife away from him, because, you see, I wouldn't forgive you if something happened to him."

The man was still trying to find who the hell it was that was talking to him and less focusing on where his weapon went, so it slightly damaged Smoker's skin, drawing blood immediately. However, Smoker saw his chance and moved backwards quickly, ducked and kicked the man between his legs.

The criminal bended over, groaning in pain. The other hooded man started to yell again. "You shitty cop! That'd better still work after this!"

Smoker ignored him and picked up his gun from the ground.

A sigh sounded as a wind blowing past. "That really wasn't necessary, you know?"

Now Smoker could make out a silhouette better. "Well, neither was your intervention, Izo."

"I told you he'd be ungrateful!" Ace said as the woman was released from his grip. She immediately duck for her gun as well, though.

"Ace!" Izo yelled at him at the same time that Smoker shouted at the woman,

"Don't move!"

The woman froze, seeming on the brink of crying. "What's happening? Where are these voices coming from? And –"

"Shut up," Ace said, but he didn't seem to want to hold her again.

"Don't tell her to shut up, you shitty bastard!" the man next to her yelled, kicking wildly around him, but not hitting anything or anyone. "Wherever you are! _What_ ever you are!"

"How did you even know I was here?" Smoker asked, getting a little annoyed. "Are you following me around?"

"We were in the neighborhood, believe it or not," Izo answered him. "And you _seemed_ to be in need of some help." He sounded a little accusing.

Smoker sighed, maybe he should put his pride aside and give them a proper 'thank you'.

"Oh my God, you're bleeding!" Izo said before Smoker could even open his mouth.

The police officer felt a hand touch the wound on his neck. "It's nothing." He slowly pushed the hand away, keeping the touch a little longer than necessary. This time the hand kept feeling pretty real, in contrary to the times when Izo had tried to hide himself.

Sirens were heard coming closer very quickly. "Izo, we should go," Marco, who had been silent until now, spoke.

"Yeah, you're right." The touch left Smoker completely and the shadow disappeared.

Smoker heard a short whisper that sounded like, "We should have taken him out, it would have seemed like an accident," before it merged with the wind.

"Izo, wait!" he said, though he didn't know whether his former neighbor was still there or not. "Thanks for your help."

Two police cars drove up to the parking lot, three cops jumping out of each of them. The male criminal that had finally been released from Marco's grip, had hurried towards the woman to comfort her, while the one that had attacked Smoker was still not able to stand up.

The police officers had drawn their weapons, but looked slightly confused at the scene. "They still have weapons within reach and no one is shot!" Smoker warned them.

However, the criminals didn't fight back anymore when the cops reached them and they were taken in easily. Smoker just watched, smoking a cigar, while his colleagues did their job. One of them came standing next to him. "How did you do that? How did you get them down like that?"

"I… had some help. But they were gone as soon as you came into sight," Smoker answered. Because there wasn't really anything else he could say, right? It wouldn't make sense that he could get three armed criminals down by himself.

"Did you see who they were?" his colleague asked. "Where did they go?"

"One of them bastards was called Ace!" one of the criminals shouted angrily. "And they were pretty much invisible!"

"Ace?" Smoker's co-worker asked. "As in Portgas?"

"No," Smoker answered before he'd thought it over. Was he seriously lying to protect an arsonist? "I don't know, they were clothed in black and indeed barely visible in the darkness. But I'm pretty sure it was someone else. There's more people with that name."

His colleague shrugged. "Of course, but it could be."

"Besides, why would he want to help _me_?" Smoker asked to make Ace even less suspicious.

"That's true, he seemed to kinda dislike you."

"Only a little," Smoker joked.

The officer next to him chuckled, but then his face turned serious again. "But you're wounded!" He brought his hand up to Smoker's neck, just as Izo had done only minutes before, but this time Smoker batted the hand away before it could reach him. "Don't touch me. I'm fine, it's just a small cut, nothing too bad."

"Alright, if you say so," the man answered.

Smoker took a last deep drag of his cigar and sighed. "Well, I take it you can handle it from here. I'm tired and hungry, so if you don't mind, I would like to go home now, finally."

The other cop nodded. "Sure, don't forget to write a report tomorrow, though."

Smoker promised he would and went homewards.

During the ride home, he didn't want to think about anything for a moment, just focusing on the road and his driving. Once he'd reached his apartment, he let himself drop down on his couch. Smoker had lied about being hungry though, because, despite not having had dinner yet, he didn't feel like eating at all.

He rubbed his temples and tried to get things straight. Izo and his brothers had just helped him. Even though they didn't have to. Smoker hadn't even known they were there if they hadn't intervened. But why had they done it? Well, it was obvious why Izo would do it as he most likely still cared for Smoker. But why would Marco and Ace help him? Ace obviously didn't really want to anyway, but he could have just stayed away, right? And he hadn't even heard Marco complain. Though Izo had said both of them had problems with Smoker knowing their secret, so why was the blond helping him too?

Smoker stood up and got himself a glass of whiskey, in the hope that it would help him get his thoughts more clear. When he sat down again, he came to the conclusion that it didn't really make sense. Smoker had thought that shadow people were creatures of the night, feeding on fear and were therefore more or less evil by nature. But this… what they had done now, was a good thing. The opposite of evil. So, had he been wrong about that? Maybe they weren't that bad after all?

He let his head fall back and stared at the ceiling. So what if being a shadow person didn't make you evil per se? The feeding on fear was still a bad thing, right? And Izo had still made the choice to visit him every night. Even though he hadn't done that anymore, since Smoker had found out it was him. So apparently, Izo had meant what he'd said, because he had kept his promise.

Smoker sighed and drank the remaining liquor in his glass in one go. While he put down his glass, his eyes caught sight of something unusual. He stood up and walked over to the cabinet that was standing against the wall. But it was not the cabinet that was out of place, it was the object on top of it. Smoker crossed his arms and glared at the small bottle as if he was very disappointed by it.

It was clearly the bottle with whatever kind of potion in it, that Izo had tried to give him about two weeks before. So Izo _had_ been in his apartment again. Beside the bottle lay a folded paper. Smoker opened it and read the few lines that were written on it with the most elegant handwriting he'd ever seen.

' _Just leave the option open._

_It doesn't change the person you are. You can still do what you like and be who you are now. You don't have to change jobs and you won't turn into something bad. You could even give your job an extra dimension, go where normal cops can't go, use your abilities for the good._

_I'm not asking you to be a bad-guy. I just wish we could be together again._

_Izo.'_

Smoker was torn between drinking the potion immediately and smashing it against the wall, with a small preference for the latter. However, that would ruin the chance to choose the former, so he couldn't do that. He groaned and instead let his head fall against that wall. Why did this have to be so hard and frustrating?

Deep inside, he knew how desperately he wanted to be with Izo, his heart told him that every time he even thought of the man. But at the same time, his head wanted to leave that part of his life behind. It would be better to forget about Izo.

Or wouldn't it?

* * *

Day after day passed without Smoker being able to make a decision. He couldn't just choose to join them, it was a life changing decision, after all. But he also couldn't leave it behind him. Sometimes, when he woke up, Smoker was convinced that it had all been a dream. But when walking to his living room, the potion was still there, standing on the cabinet where he'd found it.

Every day, there was at least one moment when he held the bottle, convinced that he'd just drink it, but then put it down again nevertheless.

Somehow, he expected Izo to show up again somewhere, to make another attempt at convincing him. However, that didn't happen. There weren't even 'coincidental' meetings or signs that Izo had come to visit him at night. He was almost disappointed in Izo that he didn't show up. But Smoker knew that he had been the one that had said he didn't want to see the other anymore. He just wished he hadn't. Or at least could change it now.

He could of course just call Izo… but his pride didn't let him. Sure, he might have forgiven his former neighbor, but that didn't mean he could just call him and ask him to come over again, did it? Besides, Izo had said the only way to be together was for Smoker to drink the potion.

Sighing, he sat on the couch, with his laptop in his lap. Not sure what to do, he opened Google and typed in the name of Izo's show that Smoker had visited weeks before. After a short investigation, he found out that the play would be on for two more weeks. Smoker wondered what Izo would do after that. Would he move even farther away?

Deep in thought, Smoker clicked through a few pages and before he even fully registered what he was doing, he was asked to pay for his ticket for the next evening. Well, he really wanted to see Izo again. Even if it was just to watch him from a distance.

* * *

He sat somewhere in the middle of the audience, trying his best not to stand out. He knew Izo could probably not even see more than the first two rows, but he didn't want to take his chances. The small bottle containing the potion sat in the pocket of his jacket. Smoker wasn't sure why he'd taken it with him, but somehow, he felt like keeping it close to him.

Even though it was his second time watching the play, he liked it nevertheless. He might even be a bit more focused on Izo than on the story line than the first time, but he felt like he needed to enjoy watching Izo as much as he could. It could very well be the last time he ever saw him, after all. Smoker shook his head. He didn't like that thought at all, so he'd better not think about it. He watched the dark haired man move over the stage, gracefully, but less elegant than he'd normally do, as that was part of the part he was playing. Smoker sighed. Why was it so hard to let the man go?

* * *

When the play was over, Smoker went to the bar of the theater again and ordered a coke. He sat down at the same table as he had done, weeks ago. He stared at the drink for a long time, letting his thoughts go all possible ways, but barely away from Izo.

Smoker took the tiny bottle from his pocket and placed it next to the glass. How bad could it actually be? If it didn't change the person you were, like Izo said… And Smoker knew he could trust him on that. Because, why would he lie about it?

Smoker was now thinking of reasons why he shouldn't do it. He had asked Madam Shyarly a few more questions and it seemed that shadow people were indeed more or less immortal. So drinking this would give him eternal life. But the down side was that he couldn't show up in public anymore after sunset. At least not for a very long time, seeing as it was hard to keep human form then. That could be bad if he'd had to work late, especially when winter came.

But then again, he could maybe take it just that bit further to catch criminals and he wouldn't have to be afraid of getting hurt, at least not physically, since his body would only take the form of a human body, but not actually be one. Smoker shook his head. That was weird and he wasn't sure he'd wanted that.

There was one thing he _was_ sure of, though, and that was that he couldn't handle the thought of this being the only thing that stood between him and Izo.

He got the small cork out of the bottle, but then put the potion down again. He should make a choice at a certain point in time, and he'd waited long enough already. But the point was that he still didn't know which choice it was, that he wanted to take. However, he had to admit that he was leaning more and more to drinking the potion.

Would he have to drink it purely? Or could he mix it with his coke as well? Smoker picked up the bottle again and looked at it one more time, before turning it upside down, emptying it into his glass.

Well, he couldn't go back _now_. He had to make a choice. Either drink the whole thing or throw it away. Still, he didn't know whether it would work _if_ he'd drink it, mixed with coke. Maybe nothing happened after all. Smoker nodded. It was a good day to let fate make the hard decisions for him.

Without giving himself much room to think more about it, he downed the whole glass of coke.

Wow, that was gross. Smoker should have known things like that tasted bad. But beside the fact that he had a terrible after taste in his mouth, he didn't notice anything different. Except… he felt a little tipsy now. Wait, there wasn't alcohol in that potion, right? He still had to drive back.

He closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again, to clear his view. There was something weird, people seemed to have an extra edge, or… a visible aura or something. Did that mean that the potion did work? Or was he just going crazy now?

While looking around, he did notice that most of the other guest were already leaving, the last few people making sure to drink their beverage quickly so that they could go home. Smoker saw the bartender give him an impatient look as well and when he looked outside, Smoker saw that it was already beginning to turn dark. A quick look at the clock told him that it was ten p.m. and he decided that it was time to leave for him. Especially if the potion had worked.

Smoker looked around, realizing Izo hadn't seen him or at least hadn't let him know that he'd seen him. But of course, the man didn't expect Smoker to be at the theater, so he wouldn't look for him either. And he could also have taken the artist's exit, if there was one.

Smoker waited near his car for the darkness to set in. However, it barely seemed to do so. The only thing that hinted at the darkening sky was the fact that the colors he saw became less vivid. And the sun was gone. He could slowly see the crescent moon better at the sky and after a while, stars joined it too. However, he could still see everything and everyone just as well as before. That is to say, he still saw people with that double edge-aura thing. He looked at his own hand, but that was normal. No shadow, no aura or whatever.

Suddenly, a man sneaked past him, missing him by just an inch. He walked straight to Smoker's car, trying the door handle. Smoker raised his eyebrows. What the hell was he trying to do?

When the man found out the car was locked, he looked around, probably to see if anyone was watching him, before taking something out of his pocket.

Smoker cleared his throat. "Yes, hello, that's my car. What do you think you're doing?" He knew his car didn't look like a police car from the outside, that was why he could follow without being noticed, but it was still the car of a policeman.

The man jumped into the air, which somehow gave Smoker a really pleasant feeling. The poor guy looked around him, but didn't seem to see him. "Where are you? You scared me."

It was then, that Smoker realized for sure the potion had worked. "I'm right in front of you. Were you trying to steal my car?"

The man's eyes widened and his heart sped up. Smoker could hear his heart speed up. He could feel his fear, smell his fear, _breathe_ his fear. And it was _good_. So good that Smoker was a bit taken aback by it. Had he turned into a monster?

Still, he felt the need for more, when the man spoke, "N-no, I swear, I thought it was my own car. I must have been mistaken." He was obviously lying.

Smoker placed a hand on the man's shoulder and said man turned his head towards it, showing fright on his face. Smoker breathed in deeply and then released him. "Good, then I will let you get away with a warning. Because stealing a cop's car isn't a good idea."

The man didn't know how fast he had to run away.

Smoker rubbed his temples. That had definitely been a new experience. Now he finally understood a bit of how Izo must have felt, because that fear had already been really addicting. He should just take a walk to clear his head.

Walking through the still lively part of the city, he quickly noticed something, as he bumped into a very confused woman. Apparently, he was invisible, but not untouchable. And though that did make sense when he thought about how Ace and Marco had hold the two criminals days ago, it didn't make sense when he thought of how shadow people were supposed to fit through the smallest keyholes. He should definitely try to find out why that was and how it worked.

A man on the other side of the street caught his eye. He had light brown dreadlocks and a dark, pointy moustache, and seemed to study him with interest. Wait, could he see him?

Now that Smoker looked at him more closely, he noticed that the man didn't have the aura thing, everyone else had. What did that mean? Was he a shadow person too?

The man smiled shortly at him and then entered the building he was standing in front of, called 'Ed's Pub'. Smoker felt the need to follow him, but before he could do so, something else caught his attention, something more pressing. He immediately recognized it as fear, but different from the fear he'd tasted before. He didn't like this one.

Still, curious where it came from, he followed he scent of it into an alley. There he found a man, pushing a young woman against a wall, her hand on his crotch, but obviously involuntarily so. She tried to turn her head away from his hungry lips. "No, stop, I don't want this!" she managed to bring out.

"Of course you do," the man said with a raspy voice. "I know you want me, no need to play hard to get, babe."

Smoker had reached the two and grabbed the back of the man's jacket to yank him away from the woman. The man turned around angrily, yelling, "The fuck?! Get the hell away from me!"

"I think that's what the lady was trying to say, sir," Smoker huffed.

The assaulter was now looking around wildly, trying to find the source of the voice, while the girl just looked relieved. "Show yourself, coward!" the man said angrily.

But slowly, the woman's fear that Smoker had felt before was making place for the man's fear. And somehow, Smoker liked that a lot better. He had the feeling it wasn't because he was a man, but because he was a criminal. "Leave the lady alone and watch what you're doing, because I will find you if you don't," Smoker said. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the girl quickly walk away. "And believe me, I'm worse than your worst nightmare." Smoker would only admit in the privacy of his mind that he enjoyed saying that.

The man looked around, scared, and stumbled out of the alleyway as well. Smoker followed him for a bit longer, just to make sure he wasn't going after the girl anymore. When that didn't seem to be the case, he let out a content breath. It actually felt good, scaring people like that. Giving them what they deserved. He had never been one for the strict police rules, anyway. Some criminals had to be dealt with immediately and the system went too easy on them sometimes, in Smoker's opinion. Especially in the case of sexual assaulters, when there was often too little proof. This was actually great.

But then he remembered this wasn't really why he'd chosen to become a shadow person. Besides, he still had to learn a lot so… he should try to find Izo. But where to start? Izo hadn't given him his new address and this city was way too big to just stroll around endlessly until he found him. He got out his phone from his pocket and selected Izo's number, to send him a text message. He was wondering what he should say though. They hadn't really talked in a long while and almost everything Smoker came up with, sounded too casual or too sappy. Eventually he just typed ' _Where can I find you?_ ' He hesitated for a moment whether or not to actually send the message, but then pressed the button after all.

He stayed where he was, waiting for a reply, even if it was in the middle of a walkway. There weren't that many people around anyway. It didn't take long before his phone made a noise to notify him of a new message. Looking at the phone, he read surprised, ' _Behind you_.'

When Smoker turned around, he indeed saw Izo standing there, being his fabulous and beautiful self.

The dark haired man smiled at him. "That shade looks great on you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~The End~  
> Please let me know your thoughts about this story! :)

**Author's Note:**

> To be continued~


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